The Protected
by Lady Sangheili
Summary: She was so close to being rescued... Ripped away from her loved ones and stranded alone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Or so she thought...Everything Ameliea thought she knew is about to change.  SmokerxOC Rated for adult humor, language, and situations.
1. The fall

**AN: I'm actually working on about 5 other stories I plan to submit on here once I write them out and proof read them a few million times or so. So in all honesty I shouldn't be starting something I have no desire to write out (Yes I'm a tard like that). But oh well. I'll learn some day I suppose.**

**Disclaimer and the such- I DO NOT own L4D or L4d2 or anything of Valve or Steam or ANYTHING.**

**Who reads these things anyway?**

"You hang on or I'll follow you to hell and kill you again!" Kaiden screamed from across the other side of the wildly out of control helicopter.

I could feel my arms begin to shake with exhaustion. Hanging on was going to be a problem. I glanced over my sholder. The ground was a good 800 ft. below us making the small houses of the town look like they were made for ants. I clamped my eyes shut as my arms sliped even more from the pole I was hanging desperatly to. "I.. I can't! AH!" I cut of in my attempt to stay with the helicopter.

'Why...' My thoughts kept circling around that. My brother, Kaiden and I were, as far as we knew, the last of our family that wern't turned into flesh eating monsters from the infection. Being the silly kids we were we'd come up with a plan to survive long before the first case even showed up. And, to our never ending wonder, it had kept us alive.. So far anyway. From there we searched for other survivors, as we had planed, but I had no desire, or any idea, that I would fall in love with the only other human we could find. Aaron. And as far as I could tell he loved me too. We'd managed to survive the Hell we called life for over 3 months and we were finally on our way to a safe zone, we were finally rescued... Or so we had thought...

My eyes darted to the front of the helicopter to see Aaron still wrestling the now turned piolot. The thing had scratched his arm up a bit but he could offer no help for me. Every time Kaiden tried to help the copter would shake wildly from the fight up front, threatening to toss him out as well. I felt tears of desperation well up as I looked behind me again.

My arms sliped even further and slid to where I was only hanging by my hands. I screamed in terror as my tired, sweaty fingers slowly began to slip. Kaiden screamed back, "HANG ON!" I could hear the desperation in his voice. The wind whipped my sholder lenght hair in my face as I fought for a grip.

Too late.

The world seemed to grow silent as my hands lost their hold and I began to fall through the air. The noise from the blades spinning, Aarons fight with the piolot, Kaiden calling out my name.. Time even seemed to slow down for a fraction of a second, then it all came crashing back. All the noise returned but it was hard to hear over the rushing wind in my ear. My eyes had stayed locked on the helicopter and almost as soon as my fingers gave out on me Aarons face appeared, his arm held out in my direction. "AMELEIA!" His voice only just reached me as I fell further and further away from them.

The helicopter kept flying away and my world began to spin. My eyes attempted to locate the ground only to find that all I could really see were flashing colors... What should've only been a few mere seconds of falling felt like hours to my over fried brain. But as my fall was about to come to a splatering halt a few things occured to my mind. 'I don't want to die.. Not like this!'

A scream was torn from my throat just as my body collided with something. The scream was cut short as my body felt the onslaut of pain. My body was thrashed around wildly and many unnamable objects slashed all over. Slowing my fall... I vaguly realized that ground shouldn't feel like this. Then, without warning, I hit something solid. The solid thing was quickly replaced with more air and I hit another, even harder, solid thing and my world went completly dark..

**Short I know. But I just want to know how my writing style looked on here before I put too much effort into something (This being my first story and all). **

**Review? :O**


	2. Waking up

**AN: I wrote this right after the first. I really wanted to make this a hunter story but decided that there just wern't enough smoker stories. So I shall sacrifice a bit of my soul and try to make the smoker work. And who knows, maybe this'll turn out really well. I can only cross my fingers. ^3^**

The smoker narrowed his eyes. The thing the humans escaped in was acting strangly. Moving in a way that couldn't have been good. For them that was.

This particular smoker had been watching the trio for the past week, waiting for his chance to get one alone. That chance had never come. He thought he was going to miss out on his chance for a fresh kill when the flying thing acted up.

He watched from a tree on the ground with his enhanched vision, needing to be able to see far to catch his prey, as the female of the group flew out of the side door and was dangerously close to falling.

That brought a smile to his decayed lips. If she fell he'd have a shot at getting her before she splattered and became uneible. He watched closly but even with his eyes at this distance he could only just make out facial features. A smile played at his lips at the thought of her terror filled scream as he riped into her flesh...

His thoughts broke away as he continued to watch... and his smile went away as well. Why were they not helping her? She was close enough the male closet to her could eaisly save her. Was the human too scared for his own life to chance getting her?

_'Coward..'_

The word formed in his head but he didn't really understand what it meant. Nor did he care, he convinced himself. His eyes found their way back up to the thing to see the female hanging by her hands. It sent a small wave of fear down his spine.

He stopped short. Fear? No... It was just a human. Just food. He wasn't scared. He was... worried that his next meal might be to mangled to eat. Yeah... that was it.

By the time his eyes found thier way back up the female was no longer hanging.. His eyes went down some and he saw her falling rather quickly through the air. His heart dropped and before he even concisouly realized he was moving his legs were carrying him as close to her as he could. Sadly he just wasn't built for speed and at that distance there was no way he could attempt to save her. His insides turned to ice as he realized this and watched her fall... fall...

Her body dissappeared as she fell into a tree. He perked slightly and continued his mad dash to where her body most likely fell.

It took him a good 10 minutes to find the spot but it wasn't hard to see where she went through. He stood on the roof of a house in the middle of a suberbia. Above him there were many broken and snapped branches. Below there was a hole where she crashed through. He crouched down and looked through the hole.

There she was... She lay on her stomach and side a bit, one arm streatched out a bit and the other out to the side and her legs were slightly folded. Was she dead? He found his way off the roof and through a broken window to get a better look at her.

He crouched next to her and after watching for a moment he could just barly make out the steady rise and fall of her chest. She was alive. With his good arm he moved some hair out of her face. He stared at her face for an unknown amount of time, unable to name the feelings rushing through him. After a while he looked back up. Now that he thought about it there really hadn't been that many infected around when he went to find her. He stood up and hobbled back to the window. The house was well hidden behind bushes and an overly lauge tree. The female would be safe from the common. The only thing that bad woule be if on the off chance a hunter caught her sent.

The smoker sat at the window suddenly and glared angerly at the female. What the hell? Safe? Wasn't he just going to eat her?

He watched the girl, turning the thought over in his mind a few times. But the more he thought about it the more he grew aganist it. With an angry growl that turned into a spout of coughs he punched the side of the window. It left a slight dent and he just continued to glare at it. He had been following them for a week, set on eating one of them, and when he finally gets the chance all he can think about is how to protect her.

With another angry cough he left the window in search of things he knew the humans needed. All the while telling himself it was just for entertainment. Just to see how the female would act. That was all. He was bored. Nothing more..

"Slow down!" Called Kaiden.

I turned slightly and began to back stroke, still swimming faster than him. "Wussy!"

That seemed to irritate him and he started to, what he calls 'swimming', just a bit faster. I still got to the dock in the middle of the lake long before he did. When he finally pulled himself up his legs were shaking slightly and he was panting. I laughed earning a glare from him. "Not all of us can be born with fish DNA you know..." He grumbled.

I sniggered for a bit longer and looked around us with a smile. It was the city lake that everyone loved to swim in. Though it was aganist the law or something. I don't think anyone really paid any attention to it. I loved the water...

He came up beside me and punched my arm without warning. I doubled back as the waves of pain shot all through me. "What the hell, Kaiden?"

My heart sank.. He was no where in sight...

My eyes darted around franticly. I was no longer on the lake. Everything around me was a dark grey. Suddenly my whole body was racked with pain. I screamed...

It was really dark... My whole body hurt. My body... I could feel it. Almost wish I couldn't. The pain was overwhelming. Forcing my eyes open I had to remain completly still to let them readjust themselves inside my skull.

Once they did the first thing I was able to realize was that I was alone.. That was.. bad? My brain still didn't want to seem to work properly. I crained my neck to the side and looked above me. A ceiling.. With a hole. past that I could see tree leaves, but even those seemed to have a hole in them. Laying fully back down some things came rushing back.

Kaiden..

Aaron..

The helicopter...

Falling...

I blinked. That's right.. I fell out of our rescue helicopter after the piolot changed. 'I'm alive..' My eyes closed as I began the painful process of trying to get my body to respond again. First my arms..

I forced my sholders to roll then down to my elbows. My fingers twitched and I clenched them, taking note that my right hand felt numb yet hurt at the same time. That couldn't have been good. Grunting from the effort I postinioned my hand to lift my torso up. They shook and I feared that they might give out on me. Slowly, I was able to raise myself to a sitting postion. My lower back hurt but it didn't feel like anything was broken. I was panting from the effort and my whole body we shaking at that point. I moved onto my legs.

They didn't seem to want to respond at all which sent a wave of panic through me at the thought of being crippled in the unfamiliar house. I swallowed it down and began touching my legs. I could feel it and it looked normal, aside from the uncountable scratches that covered every inch of my body. That meant it wasn't un usuable right..? Looking around I noticed a couch fairly close and I dragged myself to it. Resting my back aganist it I began to actually look around.

Just another house really... The family left in a hurry to find a safe zone leaving to the dust. I had landed in the living room. Looking to the side I saw that I'd only missed landing on the desk my a few mere inches. Gulping I took in another shaky breath to try and calm my nerves. Directly across from me I saw that the window was busted open, letting in a calming breeze. I would have to fix that at some point. Truning more to my left I felt myself freese up.

At the other end of the couch sat a bottle of pain pills, a first aid kit, and a single pistol with 5 or so rounds next to it. Straining my ears I tried to see if I was alone in the house. It was dead quiet.. I gulped and shimmied my way to them. I rattled the bottle of pills and sat them between my legs. Reaching for the med kit I paused noticing some kind of rancid smell. Sniffing harder I realized with bleak fear that it was a smoker. Dropping the kit I went for the pistol and loaded it with a satisfying click and waited for the thing to show itself.

I stayed completly still for what felt like forever. Letting out a shaky breath I tried to relax. "Eazy girl..." I murrmered outloud for reasurance. "If it was any kind of infected it would've attacked by now..." Swallowing thickly I layed the gun down.

First thing's first.. I popped a few pills to lessen the pain that still coursed through me and dug into the med kit. I used the bandaids and gause to plug up the numberous scratches then sat back and tried to get my bearings.

Aaron.. Kaiden.. Were they even still alive? A broken sob escaped my lips. Would I ever get to see them again? Hot tears fell down my checks just before I violently wiped them away. This was no time to lose my cool. I needed to find out excatly where I was... And how I was supposed to get back with my group.

Sitting up further I sniffled and tested out my legs again. The pills had ebbed the pain away and with only a little stiffness I was able to bend my legs and get to a standing postion with help from the couch. Carefully making my way to the window I took in the area. I was still in the middle of the town but the particular house I came crashing into was pretty well hidden from all sides. The dying of the once lush bushes and trees was all there really was to look at.

I sighed, rubbing my hand along the window sil. I would have to get to fixing this really soon if I planed on staying here for any amount of time. My hand paused when I felt a small intention on the side. I blinked and stayed there rubbing it slightly but otherwise ignoring it and went back over to the couch. Grabbing a blanket I secured it to the front of the window, blocking it from others seeing in. That would have to do for now.

Settling on the couch I burried myself beneath a blanket and tried to get myself to relax. Sleeping alone would be beyond dangerous but I could tell I needed some more recovery sleep before I could make a wise descion on what to do in the comming few days.

As my eyes drifted shut and my awarness fadded I was only slightly disturbed when I heard Kaiden cough a few times. It irritated me but he stopped it soon enough and I was out like a light.

**This one was a bit longer but I still want some reviews. I'd love to get some ideas on some fun plot thickening events. It's just funner that way. Soooo yeah.. Toodles.**


	3. A chance encounter

**AN: I got some reviews! -Feels loved- to ****Anonymous 1-**

**I happen to be a big grammer nazi myself but when I get into a writing grove and make a mistake I can easily miss it and the thingy I have doesn't have spell check. I hate when it happens and when I see it on the site it makes my blood boil.**

**Anywho like I said I wanted to do a hunter but thought I'd mix things up a bit. And now that I think about it I could really make an epic story of this. I've got some ideas cookin up already. **

**To clarify some things (cause I happen to be a noob),When I **_**Type like this**_** it means a dream. When I **_**"Type like this." **_**or **_**'Like this'**_** it's usually when an infected is thinking or speaking to one-another. Hope that wasn't too confusing. :/**

**...**

_"What do you mean, 'he tried to bite you?'" Our mom had her arms crossed and looked on the verge of popping a vein._

_Kaiden shuffled a foot aganist the floor not meeting her eyes. He wasn't going to tell mom but I felt like this was too serious a matter to ignore. "Just like I said.." His voice barely comming above a whisper. "We were walking home and he started running at me. Then he just tired to bite me."_

_Mom closed her eyes and shook her head letting out an angry breath. "Well we need to go back there and get this straightened out."_

_Kaidens head perked up and he looked horrified at the prospect of his mom getting involved in it. "Mom, no, please. I took care of it." He cut off there biting his lip at her pointed look then corrected himself. "I mean, he's not at the park anymore. After I got him off he just... just.." He trailed off again, unsure how to say it._

_Mom tapped her foot on the ground "Well?"_

_I blinked a few times then offered my help, considering I got him into this. "The kid.. Growled at us... then just ran away." I found I couldn't meet her gaze either.. How did she do that anyway._

...

My eyes blinked open and I found myself staring at a window with a blanket over it... My eyes travled a bit to the right and left to see the bare white walls of an unfamiliar house. Letting out a long sigh I tried to make my heart beat slow to something normal.

After a few minutes I reopened them and found a single tear slide down the side of my face... It had been a while since I had a dream about mom. Swallowing down the rest of the tears that threatened I sat up and streatched. My face twisted into a grimace. It seemed like my body was still sore.

My eyes, almost as if on their own, travled to the desk where I left my pills, weapon, and what was left of the first aid kit. While I took a few more pills, finishing the bottle, to dull the pain a few things scrambled about in my still fried mind. Who would leave these things here? A smart family would've taken what they could and run. Had something happened before they had the chance to grab their things? Or was there really someone else here?

I hadn't had the chance to explore the house yet. From where I was on the couch I could see the living room ended and an opening, about the size of a double door, led to a kitchen. Between that was what looked like a hallway.

Groaning with pain and stiffness I got to a standing postion and slowly made my way to the hall, only needing a little assistance from the walls to keep me upright. Once I was too the hall there were 4 doors. 2 bedrooms that looked like they were used quite often and the other bedroom that, if I had to guess, was a guest room. The final door was a bathroom. No running water though... I sighed. Did I expect anything different?

But to my dismay there really wasn't anyone else in the house. Everything was still covered in dust and even my feet left marks on the floor. The only marks there. I slowly made my way back the living room. At least my legs were begining to unstiffen, if only just a little bit.

Turning the corner, however, I stopped dead in my tracks. The window still had the blanket in place.. but on the desk now lay another med kit and more pills.

I couldn't find the courage to move, so like an idiot I stood there staring at them with my mouth hanging open. If Kaiden were here He'd say something like "Keep your mouth open like that and you'll catch flies."

That thought filled me with enough remorse at my situation that I was able to move. Pulling the pistol I kept in my waist line out I scanned the room. To my dismay I smelled a smoker again. 'Crap...' Was it in the house? I glanced around. Unless it was hiding there was no way I wouldn't have seen it due to the layout of the house.

Once I was satisfied that I was once again alone I remembered the supplies that were, once again, left for me. Was I really alone? Why would they be hiding from me..? The smell of the smoker still bothered me but there still wasn't any other sign of an infected being in there, considering I wasn't being torn to shreds anyway..

I rattled the pill bottle again feeling completly lost. Almost on its own I moved to the door that was about 2 yards away from the broken window and unlocked it sticking my head out. In the pre-dusk light I saw that I was the only being within eye sight. I could smell the smoker still and I made sure the screen door covered my side as I called out with a slightly hushed tone. "Is someone there? Why are you hiding?"

I stopped myself there with an angry scowl. What the hell was I doing screaming like an idiot during a zombie apocalypse? With a mental slap I closed the door and made sure the dead bolt was securly in place. Thumping my forehead lightly against the door I tried to go over everything that had happened til now.

I was away from my group, on my own.. I glanced behind me at my supplies.

Well, not with my group... Who was my mysterious helper and why were they hiding from me? I looked to the window. And the smoker I keep smelling.. What was up with that? Maybe it wasnt attacking me because the person helping? I screwed my eyes shut. "Ugh..."

Kicking the door for good measure I turned my back to it and slid down to a sitting postion. "Alright, here's what we're going to do," I found that I couldn't help but talk outloud. Perhaps I was going insane... "We're going to sleep for a bit longer, wait 'til morning then find a way to plug the hole in the roof. And hopefully the window."

I nodded once, happy with my decision and plopped on the couch. Taking a few more pills to help me get to sleep I settled down under the blankets. I watched the window for a long time as my eyes began drooping... Guess I was more worn out than I thought. I forced myself to stay awake for as long as possible. Why? Well I was hoping that my little helper would show themselves so I could thank them or at the very least see who it was. I was weird like that.

My body betrayed me, however, as my eyelids became increasingly heavy and I slipped under.

...

The smoker pressed himself aganist the outside wall beside the broken window and waited. It was all he could do to keep himself from not climbing through the window to check on the girl. He'd left her everything he could find eariler that day and almost got caught. If she found him he had no doubt in his mind she wouldn't hesitate in shooting him. He didn't really blame her.

He waited for a while longer, listening as her breathing got slow and even, then chanced at peek behind the blanket she hid the window with. With his night vision he could see that she was asleep.

Being carefully quiet he slipped inside and walked over to her sleeping form. He watched her for a moment then bent down to get a better look at her, and, just like the other night, his hand reached up and brushed a bit of hair out of her face. She stirred in her sleep but all he found himself doing was smiling...

That brought another wave of fury. He should stop this sillyness and eat the female already, before his kill got stolen.

Even as he was thinking that his left hand, the one free of tumors, continued to stroke her cheek. He watched his hand with an almost sickened look. Could he honestly call what he was doing just playing with his food? His eyes narrowed. What else could it possibly be? Surly he wasn't concerned for the girl... It's not like he was human...

His eyes shifted down to his right arm, covered in tumors and giving him his trademark look. He stared at it and was only slighty suprised that he wanted nothing more than to rip all the infectious marks off. He'd had that desire since that first night when he found her... But why? What did he care what he looked like?

_'The girl might...'_

He turned his head back to her. So what? It's not like he cared what she thought of him. He felt a snarl play at his lips. That was the problem... He did care.

Holding back a few sighing coughs his eyes found hers again. What pretty brown eyes she had... Wait...

He blinked and finally realized she was stairing at him. His hand was still on her cheek and she blinked as well. _'Uh oh...'_

A second later she let out an ear splitting scream and the smoker reared back, falling flat on his butt. The girl continued to scream as the smoker scrambled to get to his feet and out the window, before the girl shot him preferably. By the time he made it to the window she had stopped screaming and was making a few startled huffing noises and he was sure she was reaching for the gun. It was only a matter of time before she got it and took the shot. Still he made it around the side of the house without even hearing a gunshot.

Circling around, he climbed silently into the tree that was on the other side of the street. From his vantage point he could see the short driveway that led to the front of the house. A moment later he heard what he assumed was the door being opened violently and the girl appeared at the end of the driveway. The gun was no where in sight.

_'That idiot of a girl. Going out without a weapon...' _His thoughts cut off abruptly when another small thought occured. What was she even doing?

The smoker watched closly as the girl looked around almost franticly. Was she looking for him? If so then why didn't she have the gun?

The breeze picked up slightly and the smoker stiffened.

Hunter. And it was close.. His eyes scaned over the area around the girl. The hunter must of heard her screaming. The smoker narrowed his eyes at the girl, willing her to go back inside. She remained rooted in place, her eyes scanning almost desperatly, then she abruptly turned and slowly made her way back to house.

The smoker huffed out a breath that could only be described as a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. It wasn't a second later when he heard the unmistakable screech of a hunter pouncing. His eyes shot open in time to see the girl spin on her heels and stare in horror somewhere to his right. His head whipped in that direction. The hunter was about eye level with the smoker and closing the space between it and the female rather quickly.

He had excatly .00 seconds to react before the hunter got a hold of her. His body seemed to be thinking faster than he was. His tongue shot out of his mouth with speed he didn't know he had and wrapped around the hunters waist, pulling it out of the path of the girl. The hunter landed with a thud on the street but wasted no time in hopping on all 4s and looking down at itself. It followed the tongue holding it up to the tree and growled. It grabbed the apendage and yanked. The smoker came toppling out of the tree and fell to the grassy patch beneth the tree.

The smoker got up slowly, being shaken by the fall. When his vision cleared he saw the hunter looking in his direction. It had a hold on his tongue with an evil toothy grin. With lightning speed the hunter threw the slimy thing down, crouched, and pounced at the smoker. The smoker only just managed to side-step the attack. The hunter, being built for fighting, planted his leg and slammed into the other, sending the smoker crashing across the ground. When he finally came to a hualt the hunter was on him once again. It slashed a clawed hand across the smokers face.

Rolling to the side, the smoker ending up on top of the hunter, but before he could do any damage the hunter kicked him off sending him flying through the air. He hit the ground with a sickening thud. He managed to raise to one arm when the unrelenting hunter slammed into him yet again, racking its claws down the smokers back. It cut deep.. The smoker let out a scratchy rawr of pain. The hunter slammed into him again, this time slicing his side up.

The smoker, now on his back, looked up at his attacker. The hunter, still with the evil smile, prepaired for the final blow. The smoker closed his single eye, waiting.

A gun shot rang out somewhere close to the smoker. His eyes darted open to see the hunter froozen in place. A second later it fell backwards with a thud on the cold pavement. The smoker turned and saw the girl holding the now smoking pistol toward them. Her eyes were wide with terror and her hands shook slightly.

The smoker laid there for a minute, watching her. When her eyes finally looked down to him he felt himself relax. She was okay.. Squinting with the pain, the smoker shakily got to his feet and faced her. She was a good 2 yards from him.. Yet, she held the gun pointed to the ground, watching him. He stood there panting then without warning he doubled over. Looks like the hunters claws dug too deep... He was loosing too much blood.

He wondered briefly what couldv'e possibly possesed him to take on a hunter.. With his vision bluring he saw the girls feet slowly making their way toward him. _'What is she...' _He wasn't even able to complete the thought before he collapsed.

**...**

**Alrighty just to add a few things-**

**1) I'm not describing in detail how our main girl looks cause I thought It'd be cool if the reader just visualized what they would wear in said postion.**

**2)I'm using the ... to show a break in the chapter since I can't figure anything else out. -Is a noob- So deal with it. D**

**Love you all!**


	4. Monster

**AN: Whew! Thanks to MasterHuntress for the review. For some odd reason it got my creative jucies flowing again. So lets keep on truckin! **

**Don't judge me...**

**...**

I could feel my legs shaking with fear that I wanted nothing more than to squash. Fear made a person weak; made them hesitate... I glanced down at the gun that was shaking because my arm was trembling. What the hell had just happened?

My eyes travled down to the hunter that had tried to attack me, then they shifted to the smoker that had... protected me. My mind felt on the verge of exploding. Why would a smoker, an infected bent on eating others flesh to sustain itself, put himself in harms way to help me..?

As my eyes stayed locked on the smoker I could just barley see the faint rise and fall of his chest indicating it was still alive. My hand, still partly shaking, aimed the gun at its head. My finger was on the trigger, ready, yet...

My arms praticly gave out and I let out a small wimper of frustration as they dangled limply at my sides. It was dangerous to let the smoker go. It obviously knew where I was. I gluped as I remembered waking up to the smoker hunched over me, but not ripping me to shreads. It looked lost in thought but when it looked back to me I couldn't help the girly shriek that escaped my lips. But even as I scared it, it still didn't attack me, and like the moron I was I had chased it outside.

My eyes flashed back to the dead hunter. Again, I felt utterly confused at why the smoker had protected me. Was it just going to attack me later? That didn't make any sence either. At this point I was sure that any form of zombie knew not to provke a hunter.

Growling at myself I thrust the gun back in my waistline and turned for the house.. but stopped dead where the bush line began. Turning my head to the side I looked at the unconsious smoker.. Would he be alright out here on his own...?

Shaking my head violently I mentally kicked myself. What was I even thinking? It was a smoker!

I took another step but once again, stopped. I couldv'e punched my brain if it was physically possible. Clenching my fists I had an enternal arguement with my common sence and self rightiousness.

Truning on my heels, almost giving myself whiplash, I glared at the downed smoker. 'What the hell. What the hell. What the hell. What the hell.' Taking careful steps I slowly made my way to it. My eyes couldn't seem to leave its boil-covered arm. Swallowing my pride, and rising bile, I lowered myself and took its, relatively, unmarred arm and threw it across my sholder to support his weight.

Damn the thing was heavy. I clenched my teeth in the effort and slowly half carried, half dragged, us to the house. My mind seemed to be having a very heated argument over the whole thing.

'It's a smoker! A zombie! These things have been trying to eat you and your friends for the past months! Drop the thing and shoot it already!'

'It protected me... And it's hurt. I can't just leave it to die.'

'And what if it tires to eat you?'

I hesitated at that thought, but the slight incline of the driveway and the smokers weight threatened to send us falling back. So I kept moving toward the door with a set face. 'If that happens, I'll shoot it.'

Satisfied with my decision I got us to the front door and after much frustrated flailing about, and almost dropping of the smoker, I was able to get the door open and both of us inside. After a moment of thought I decided to lay him on the couch I had been using as a bed. It took a bit of doing but i finally managed to get him laying in an at least comfortable looking postion on his back.

He looked really bad though... I bit my lip as I apraised his wounds. Deep claw marks across his face, side, and, from what I saw while he was on the ground, his back. I glanced at my arm now covered in what I guessed was his blood. The blackish-red stuff covered all my skin I could see. That couldn't have been good...

Biting my lip a bit deeper I looked over at my extra med kit. The common sence side of me about had a cow at my thoughs but I decided to ignore it for once, like the retarded gluttin' for punishment imbecile I had become. Rummaging in the kitchen I got a large bowl and filled it with water and grabbed some paper towels I had found eariler that day, and headed back to him.

Lowering myself next to the wounded smoker I dug into the kit and got to work. I cleaned what blood I could away from his face and took a big gauze pad an pressed it in place. The lingering hand on his forhead could feel a bit of a fever... Glancing at his face I could see that he still had a bit of a pained expression and was breathing in harsh gasps, even for a smoker.

Or was a high body temperature normal for an infected? And as far as I knew this was actually just how a smoker actually breathed. I growled at myself out of frustration and got to work on his side. There was a lot of blood around this area.. I was willing to bet most of it was from his back though.

My plan was to put a ton of gauze and paper towels over his back and side and just wrap them up but try as I might I couldn't get te things to stay in place and wrap him up. The fact that he was on a couch didn't help either. I probably couldv'e force the things to work but that would have probably put him in a lot of pain. Even from my gentle probings with the paper towels I could see it was hurting him. Sighing, I decided to just cover the wounds with paper towels and leave it for the time being. I would dress them properly when he was awake... Would he let me?

I glanced up at his face. It was still a mask of pain but he still looked like a smoker, like any other infected I've learned to kill without a second thought. How would he react to me when he woke up? Hopefully not like I did to him. We'd be back to square one.

Feeling completly lost and a ton of other things I couldn't name I groaned and ruffled my hands in my hair in a frantic manner. Feeling the wet-stickyness I instantly regretted it. My hair was now matted in his blood. Glancing down at myself I realized that 80% of me was covered in the stuff. "Well, that's just... peachy.." I said with vemon at the floor.

Sighing I stood up and looked at the smoker. He still looked in a bit of pain but at least his breathing had settled, if only a little bit. I took the blanket and threw it over him, then went to the wall between the broken window and the door and slid down it to a sitting postion.

I found myself staring at his sleeping face, not really having any complete or coherient thoughts. Just.. staring and breathing I suppose.

To my dismay I felt my eye lids dropping again. Apparently, when you're alone, and bored out of your mind, all your body wanted to do was either sleep or think. That and my fall probably hadn't helped any.. Since I was disinclined to druge up memories of the past I let my body relax but once again my common sence began screaming at me. 'Smoker! In the house! HELLO!'

I grumbled. "I've already slept for hours. I'll only be snoozing anyway and He's in no postion to attack me." I said it outloud to reasure myself more than anything. Going this long without hearing Kaiden or Aaron talk was bothering me more than I thought it ever would.

A faint smile played at my lips at remembering them. Kaiden and Aaron always argued. Which way to go, who had first watch, who would carry what, who would look after me... Kaiden knew facts but Aaron was under the impression, me being the only woman for miles, that I was fragile and needed protecting 24/7. Where it bothered me that he thought I was so weak it made me blush that he would always be the first there if I fell or anything...

A single tear slid down my cheek before I even knew I was upset. Wipping it away violently I glared at my feet.

Sleep it was... I clamped my eyes shut and forced my body to surrender to sleep. One gets good at telling your body when it's time to sleep when rest becomes a luxury.

...

It was really dark. And the pain... Why was there so much pain?

His eyes shot open and he felt the pain sharpen in his face. He tried to get up only to have even more white hot pain shoot through his body. With a low grunt he fell back to the... What?

He was laying on something soft... Grass? No... What was it then?

Forcing his nerves to calm themselves and to keep his burning lungs from sending him in a coughing fit he stared up with wide eyes. Slowly, he adjusted to the darkenss and his night vision came up. He was... In a house. His memory was sketchy at the best of times but he could at least tell the most basic of human things apart. But besides that what was he doing in a house?

That brought back a few more resent memories. The hunter! He almost tried to sit up again but then remembered the girl had finished him off.

The girl.

That brought him into a more aware state and he turned his head. He felt a weird kind of ping when he saw the girl leaned aganist the wall, asleep.

He was in the house she was seeking refuge in...

He looked around a bit more and finally realized he was laying on the thing she claimed as her bed. He was laying on her bed...

Looking down at himself he saw that he had the thing that she used to cover herself with over him. Looking at his body beneith it he saw that the wounds the hunter had given him were covered in the stuff the humans used to cover thier wounds...

His infected brain began working all the information together. His eyes found thier way back to the sleeping girl. She... She helped him...? That was the only conclusion there could have been. But why?

Sure he had, aganist his better judgement and instinct, saved her but he never expected her to return the favor. Not to him. Not to an infected monster...

His eyes narrowed in what one would name saddness. He was a monster and no matter what he did the fact would remain. He'd helped her, sure, but even now the infected part of his mind was still screaming to get up and tear into her warm flesh, to soak in her blood and relish every scream she made.

He wanted nothing more than to slam his face into something hard. Over the past uncountable days of his infection he had given in to his carnal instincts and eaten what he could to survive and attacking humans for a chance to taste their fresh, uninfected, flesh. Then one look at the girl and he tries his darndest **(totally spelled wrong...) **to shove those instincts aside to help her. To... protect her?

Some small, human, part of his mind wanted to protect her so she would accept him...

His eyes closed and let out a long and low sigh, still trying to fight back his coughs. What business did he have wanting her acceptance? He had killed more than his fair share of humans. How could he ever expect her to even look at him without a gun between them?

His eyes opened and he stared at the ceiling with an almost empty feeling. He didn't expect her to and when she woke up... He looked at her sleeping form once more. He remembered how she had followed him outside but didn't once try to shoot him. Was she not afraid of him?

He narrowed his eyes.

When she woke up, if she wouldn't shoot him, then he would attack first. Whatever reason he had for helping her in the first place would never hide the facts. He was a monster.. And she was his prey.

...

_"Ameleia, she's been crying for hours..." Kaidens voice intrupeted my thought yet again and I let out a frustrated huff._

_Turning my head to the side a bit, but not taking my eyes of the tv screen, away from my game, and said "I would too if my guy dumped me and then tried to kill me the next day."_

_I heard him let out a huff of his own and mumble "What boyfirend?"_

_I glared at the tv but still didn't look at him. "Watch it, buddy..." I did strain my ears and found that I could still hear mom crying and I felt my heart to a flip. No child wanted to hear their mom cry..._

_"Maybe we should go talk to her..." His voice trailed off in thought._

_I let out a sigh, paused my game, and turned to look at him. "You know how she is. If she's upset she wouldn't want us to bother her. And neither would I." With that said I got back to my game. "No one can deny we're related." I said almost on a side note._

_I praticly heard him roll his eyes but other wise ignored him as a tougher opponunt crossed my path. I stuck out my tongue in consintration and clicked the controlers buttons fruiously._

_"Besides," I started "It's pretty late. We'll all do something fun tommorow to get her mind off it."_

_"I don't know..." Kaidens voice dropped in pitch. "The news people have been talking about more of those strange cases. They said it might be a good idea to stay inside."\_

_"Pfft." I blew his scared voice off. "Who watches the news anyway?"_

_He grunted a laugh and answered "Normal people who don't have their eyes glued to a video game."_

_"Touche.." I breathed, too into the game to make a snide remark._

_After an unknown amount Kaiden said. "Ya know... I wasn't going to say anything but... Do her cries sound... Different to you too?" ..._

...

I jerked into a more upright postion and looked around, my heart pounding a bit too fast for my liking.

Then with an almost angry snort sounding thing I glared at the space between my legs. 'Just another dream...' I continued to make angry faces at the floor. This was getting ridiculous. If these dreams didn't let up soon I would be going insane from my own memories. What a pleasant thought...

A coughing sounded from infront of me, making me almost jump out of my skin. My hand automaticly went for the gun at my waist and my eyes darted up.

**...**

**AN: lol cliff hanger. I hate these things but alas.**

**I would love to see more reviews. Turns out these things really do help the writer.**


	5. Moses

**AN: Keep on truckin! **

**That's my motto for the moment anyway. Hey whatever keeps me going I suppose.**

**...**

_I jerked into a more upright postion and looked around, my heart pounding a bit too fast for my liking. _

_Then with an almost angry snort sounding thing I glared at the space between my legs. 'Just another dream...' I continued to make angry faces at the floor. This was getting ridiculous. If these dreams didn't let up soon I would be going insane from my own memories. What a pleasant thought..._

_A coughing sounded from infront of me, making me almost jump out of my skin. My hand automaticly went for the gun at my waist and my eyes darted up._

The smoker had its single eye trained on me and was watching me with a calmness I never thought I'd witness in a zombie. He was just.. watching me. The bandaid was still under his good, and only, eye. Which reminded me I had a job to do.

Taking my hand away from the gun and slowly getting up, grimacing from the stiffness of my muscles, and watched him for any kind of reaction. He just kept stairing. My supplies from last night were still beside the couch so I calmly made my way to him. Being careful not to startle him. Oddly enough he didn't seem too phased by me.

Once I was close enough, keeping my eyes on him, I lowered to a kneeling postion beside him.

Still nothing. Slowly, not looking away for a second, I took the edge of the blanket and pulled it away. His eye darted to my hand but he didn't otherwise move. I tried my best to ignore the fact that his tongue hung about a foot out of his mouth but my eyes kept darting to it.

I swallowed and licked my lips. "I..." I started softly. His head swivled back to me. "I'm..." I swallowed again. Damn this nervousness... "You got hurt pretty badly last night... So I brought you here. I did what I could for your wounds but I didn't get the chance to wrap them..."

He just continued to watch me, blinking every now and then. I glanced away from his almost searching eye and continued. "Um... If you can sit-" My words cut off in my thorat as he suddenly sat up and stared down at me. It took me a second, after sorting though my panic, to see that his hasty act caused him a lot of pain.

I half glared at him. "You have to be more careful. You're still really messed up and too much of that is only going to..." My voice trailed off as I saw the paper towels around his side turn dark red. "Damnit you.." I growled. I turned and tore off a big wad of fresh paper towel and began dabbing at the blood. To my suprise he actually sat still, only twitching when it hurt, as I cleaned him.

Once the bleeding had lessened I looked back up at him. He still just watched me with that dark, firghteningly human, eye. I instanly felt flustered and reached next to me for the roll of gauze. I opened my mouth but then shut it as I began to think. For all I knew this thing had no idea what I was saying. Would trying to communicate with it even do anything?

Gulping I spoke anyway. "I'm going to wrap the cuts on your back and side now, okay?" His eyes never left mine. "I need you to hold the stuff at your side for me though... Can you do that?"

After what felt like an hour long pause he closed his one eye and nodded. I kept myself calm and his hand replaced mine at his side. So it... He.. he could understand me. That was at least a start...

I began wrapping the gauze around him, making sure not to make it too tight around the boils that covered his left side. I watched his face for pain but other than the scrunching of his face there was no change in his expression. I noticed vaguely that his tongue was gone now. Had he sucked it back in his mouth? I shuddered at the weird image it brought and returned to my work.

Being this close I could really smell him. It wasn't the smell of a person who smoked too may cigarettes but of a corpse and... I paused in my taping of the end of the gauze. Like a man that really needed a shower.

I finished taping him and looked at my handy work with a somewhat pleased look. Doctor I was not but I had gotten better over the past few months. After a while I sighed. He looked up form his now wrapped body to stare at me again.

I found my voice a bit faster than the last few times. "So um... Just wondering but... Can you understand me?"

His eyes remained fixated on me but he nodded twice. I couldn't help but beam at that. I leaned just a bit closer and asked in an excited voice. "So was it you that helped me yesterday? And before that?"

He seemed taken aback by my... ditzyness but nodded slowly. I found myself staring at the floor. So he did help me. A smoker helped me. Why... I looked back at him, now with a more guraded look. "Why? ...I mean I'm greatful but... Why?"

I stared right back at him, trying to see if I could read anything in his face or eyes. But saddly his infected body betrayed nothing. He simply looked away, closed his eye, and shook his head.

"You don't know?"

He nodded, once.

I looked to the side again. "I see..." After a nother long, akward pause I took a deep breath. "Well, like I said, I'm truly greatful. I'm not sure if I'd be okay if you hadn't helped." I stood up and he looked up at me. I smilied. "I'm willing to bet you've also been watching over me too."

He blinked once and looked away. I took that as a yes and my smile widened a bit more. "To show my gratitude," I picked up all the wads of bloody paper towels and started toward the kitchen. "You can stay here. Heal up and stuff, and..." I paused, trying to think of a good way to word this. "If you want we can stick together."

I didn't need to be looking at him to feel the shock he was giving off and the intensity of his stare at my back to know just how supirsed he was. I felt a smirk play at my lips at the thought of me just shocking a zombie. I pushed it aside, needing to get my point across. "I mean, you saved my life and even before that you helped me." I knew I was probably repeating myself but I mean come on.

I was talking to a zombie for corns sake. "I owe you-" I stopped suddenly when I turned and saw that he was standing not 6 inches away from me. I craned my neck back to look into his eye. He was a good head and a half taller than me... I was a short girl. Standing at 5' 0" that put the smoker, taking his hunched state aside, at something close to 6' 8" or something. I blinked. 'So he was tall in the past life..' In said past life he would have drawn my attention in a crowd. I was always a sucker for the tall ones.

I straightened my back and puffed my chest out, for whatever reason, and said. "I owe you," I continued. "But I want to lay some ground rules."

He cocked his head to the side and the image of a puppy popped into my head. I glared at the smoker, more angry at myself than him really, and held a finger up. "Rule number one: Don't eat me."

His eye narrowed at me. Not in an angry way, more like an... Esasperated way. Like I was just being silly.

"Rule number two: No sneaking up on me. I don't know if you looked in a mirrow lately but if you're not careful I may accidently shoot you if you scare me."

At that he looked almost crestfallen. I felt my muscles untense at his sudden sad deminer. Did I... Hurt his feelings? Odd.. I felt bad now that I had said it. I back tracked. "Look I didn't mean anything by it. I just... I don't want to shoot you." At that his eyes shot back to my face. I smiled faintly at him. "I don't make it a pratice to shoot my..." Only a slight pause. "Firend."

At that single word his faced laxed into an expression I couldn't quite read. Shock was there, a lot there in fact, but it looked like about a thousand emotions swam across his face then. He didn't really react physically so I continued.

"Rule number three:," I placed my hand on his chest, at my head level, which was where his pecks would have been, and- Woah...

He had pecks. The kind that belonged to a nicely muscled man. Didn't see that comming. Smokers looked lanky, but the more I thought about it the more it made sence. I mean, hell, the things dragged us by thier tongues. They had to have some kind of upper body strenght for that kind of thing. Before I even realized what I was doing my hand slid just a bit down, maybe 2 inches or so. He started growling. I was about to pull my hand away in fear but then I really listened to the sound. It wasn't really a growl. More like a.. Purr? Something like that.

I felt my eyes widen. The hell? He was purring at my touch... Comming back to reality I went back to what I was orginially doing and pushed him away. "R-Rule number three: I like my personal space." I kept my head down so he didn't see my blush and walked by him, back to the living room. Taking one look at the blood covered couch I opted for my previous "bed" and slid down the wall.

I watched my feet feeling... weird. I had touched a smoker. I touched him. And he seemed to like it... I burried my face in my hands. When I felt his muscles I almost forgot he was a zombie... Not safe. I sighed in misery.

A noise to my left cause me to looked from the corner of my eye. The smoker had come up beside be and sat about a foot away. One leg was proped up and the other was a bent. His right arm hung over his right knee and I couldn't really see what his other arm was doing. He just looked relaxed. I raised my head and looked at him. His eye was downcast, seeming to be very intrested in the pattern of the carpet.

He seemed to follow me around like a little puppy. Yeah... Like a.. a pet. I felt my insides relax at the thought. I liked animals... That made whatever happened in the kitchen okay.

As my brain tried to sort itself out I continued to watch him. He glanced at me almost shyly then back to the floor. I noticed that his tongue was hanging out of his mouth again, though it was only the first few inches, reaching about half way down his neck.

I continued to watch him as a few hundred things scrambled around in my mind. A bit later I broke the silence. "You got a name?"

His head snapped up to look at me. He didn't seem angry or anything. Just watching me yet again with his dark eye.

I laughed once, too stressed out to really feel flustered anymore. "I mean I'm sure you do... Do you remember it?"

He looked past me, seeming to be in deep thought. After a moment of silence he closed his eye and shook his head saddly.

"That's a shame.." I sympathised.

Another long pause. "Well... I can't just call you Smoker or Zombie Dude... I guess I should come up with a name, huh?"

He looked at me again. Didn't really show any protest at the notion so I began thinking. I thought about a dogs name or something along the lines, but one look at him made me think better of it. I didn't want to hurt his feelings again.

After thinking I finally said with a slight sigh. "I'm no good a naming things... Pets and the such." I began looking around for inspiration. My eyes fell to the computer desk, which made me think of video games. A smile played at my lips.

I began talking in what seemed to be a long spout of verbal diariea. "Ya know.. There was this game I used to play a lot, before the infection hit and all. It was an older game and saddly not too many people seemed to really play it. I loved it though. From the story line, to the charaters, to the enemies I had to fight." I glanced at him. He was just watching me, looking like he was actually listening to me, so I kept going.

"Anyway, there was this one charater, a sorta main one I guess. He got picked on a lot but everyone seemed to like him. He was also the one who looked out the most for everyone else. He said they were his family and all. He was the most charming of the group too. Bravest, durable, handsome, stunning..." I trailed off feeling a blush creep up into my cheeks again.

"A-Anyway, he was my favorite of them all." I looked at him fully. "His name was Moses. I don't think it was really in refrence to the bible or anything so don't worry about it being religious or whatever." I paused realizing I had gotten a bit off track. "But I'd like to call you Moses if that's alright with you."

He looked at the couch in thought. Looked like he rolled it around in his head for a bit then he- Woah. He smilied! The tongue was still hanging but there was no mistaking the curve of his lips. I stared at him with wide eyes, almost completly missing him nod his head.

I forcably shook my head, bringing me back to the present. "I... Okay, Moses." I streached my hand out to him, he looked at it. "It's nice to finally properly meet you. My name's Ameleia."

He continued to stare at my hand then slowly, almost timidly he bent up his right hand and grasped my hand in his. I noted that his hands were also seemingly ginormous compaired to mine. I raised my arm up and brought it back down a few times. Shaking hands with him.

Shaking hands with a smoker. A zombie.

Things were certanily going to be interesting from here on. Anyone could've been able to see that.

**...**

**Anyone who can guess what game I got the name from will win a virtual cookie. :3**

**Anywho-**

**This one feels a bit shorter... I'm too tired to really look though. Oi... But a lot (ish) happened so I suppose I'm at least mildly proud of this chapter.**

**And hello again Anonymous person. Your comment really made my day. I personally thought my story sucked in compairison to the others I've seen but yippie! I'm not as much of a failure as I thought I was. :D**

**-starts my happy dance then falls asleep in the middle of it-**


	6. Still just a monster

**AN: Oh Twin, how you spoil me. **

**And FML. So many mistakes in the last chapter. When I get into a grove my fingers trip over themselves. I know it makes me look stipid with the mistakes. Stop telling me. Dx**

**-bangs my head against a wall-**

**...**

"Moses, you get down here or I'll... I'll..." I broke off. What does one threaten a smoker with? The hell if I knew.

I glared up at the tree he had run up, tapping my foot impatiencly on the pavement. Vaguely I remembered that this was the same tree that he had hid in and saved me from the hunter.

My head turned and I saw the hunters body, it was now, however, torn into. It was missing both his arms, a leg, and his head. Under the remaining body part I could see a large pool of blood. I could only imagin what his stomach looked like, if it was still even there.

I shivered at the thought. Zombies had eaten the hunter. So close to where I was hiding too. That thought wasn't helping my stress levels at this point.

After I had named him, Moses fell asleep again. It hadn't suprised me too much. He needed the recovery sleep. I, on the other hand. was too strung up with my own thoughts to sleep. So, hours later, when he had awaken, I had come to a decision.

It probably wasn't fair of me, the more I really thought about it, but it was the only way I could calm my rampaging nerves. Apparently, my common sence about had another cow when I started thinking of the smoker as a friend and not an enemy. So as to stifle a rising headache I decided to treat him like... Well like a pet, to be blunt.

When he was properly awake I stood and put my hands on my hips, staring down at him. "Alright.." Slight pause. "Moses. We've got a lot of work to do today. I have no idea where I am, so until I do I don't know where any kind of rescue might be. So, I need to make this a more durable safe place to stay."

He blinked.

I pursed my lips. "I think by this point you've made the decision that you're not going to kill me. Same for me as well. So that makes us firends."

There it was. His shocked expression. At the word friend again. I continued. "I'll be needing your help today. I want to first cover the hole in the roof, then baracade the windows. All of them. I'm going to make this a safe house."

He stood up and towered over me. I'm not sure if he was trying to do it on purpose but he actually intimidated me. I puffed out my chest like an idiot again. "And I have one condition for you if we're going to stay together." He blinked.

I gazed at him with unwavering steel. "You're going to take a bath."

That hadn't gone over too well.

So here I was, standing at the base of a tree screaming at a smoker. What a great way to start the day. I let out a groan and slouched in a childish manner. "Moses, we have a ton of work we gotta do today. And since you're gonna stay with me I'm not doing this all on my own." I felt myself inwardly blink. A fine thing I was doing assuming something like that. Hell, as far as I knew he was just saving me for when he was really hungry later or something. Inwardly, I kicked myself. There was no point in thinking like that.

I came back to reality and saw that Moses was watching me, wondering why I had gotten so quiet probably. I continued in my rant about the bath thing. "Come on, it's just water. Take it like a man." He didn't respond or move. I glared. "Oh, why don't you just grow a pair?"

He let out a gargling snarl at that last part.

I smilied. Looks like I hit a nerve. I put my hands on my hips about to say a few more insulting things then thought better of it and just let out a huffing sigh. "Look, I'll make a deal with you." He leaned foward a bit. "Lets just do all the work and later..." I paused and looked down, almost shocked at myself for saying it. "I need a good bathing too...Once we're done we could... Bathe together." I felt my face flush crimson.

No big deal... Years ago, back when I had an inside cat, it loved to sit in the bathroom with me while I took a bath. I would talk to him and he'd just do normal cat things. He'd even stare at me while I dressed. It didn't bother me then, so why should it now? He was like a pet to me anyway right? There wasn't any difference was there?

'Of course there was.'

I glared at the tree trunk. 'You're convinced that he's nothing but a dumb animal anyway. So no there isn't.' I almost felt proud at one upping myself... I deadpanned.

Great, I was officially insane.

A thud sounding to my right brought be back to reality once more. Moses stood somewhat close to me, towering over me making me feel tiny again. It was hard to read his expression. His single eye was trained on me, seemingly searching for something.

At least he was out of the tree now. I kept up my tatic. "We'll do the work. By the time we finish we'll both need a good washing. To make things easier I'll do it with you."

His head tilted to the side and my eyes widened. "Wait... I mean... Er, we'll just take a bath together." My face felt like it was on fire. That didn't sound much better. Turning away from him I clenched my fists. He was a zombie... but still a mans body. Was this really a good idea?

I glanced at him, he was staring at my face seeming to be looking for something again. In the back of my mind I wondered what, but he wasn't growling at me anymore so there was no turning back. "Do we have a deal?"

He stood there watching me for a while, the only sounds around us were his ragged breaths. Eventually he nodded and I couldn't help but smile. I had won, for now anyway.

Straightening out I nodded once in triumph. "Good. Now," Truning on my heels I walked back toward the house. "No more procrastintion. Come on."

After a slight pause I heard his thunking foot falls as he followed me back. Ever the loyal pet he was...

...

He followed after her in deep thought.

Moses... That's what she had named him. He knew that, that hadn't been his name but he found that it didn't really bother him. Naming him meant she trusted him right? It seemed a silly thought but it had made him happy none the less.

A bath... He knew what it was. She offered to take one with him. A far rotted part of his brain threw images at him.

A man and a woman, naked, in each others arms under the hot spray of a.. shower. Their faces were pressed together, more specifically, their lips. Their lower halfs were rocking together, almost violently...

He blinked, almost stopping completly in shock.

Is that what she wanted from him? A warm tingle travled up his spine. He felt a low growl in his throat but he stifled it. He was daluding himself and he knew it. He was a far cry from the man in his image. He knew excatly what he was and how he looked. She would never see him as anything but the dead thing he was. Sure, she was friendly now but that was because he helped her.

When they reached the house he went for the window, the entrance he had been using, but stopped at her voice. "Uh, uh. That's going to be fixed up soon. You're going to start using the door like all us other normal people."

If he were a human he'd have sighed in exasperation. He did, however, walk to her anyway. She held the screen door open but didn't otherwise move as he stood over her. She craned her neck back to look at him. He wondered what excatly she was waiting for when she spoke again. "Do you know how to open a door?" She asked.

He glanced at the metal thing.

No, but was he going to admit to that?

No.

Remembering how she did it he reached his hand out and tired to clasp the knob. The infection hampered his fine motor skills. Clasping objects wasn't excatly an easy thing to do anymore. Even when he had gotten her supplies the task had required some trial and error.

He quickly became frustrated with the thing and was about to just attack the door but movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. The girl- no.. Ameleia reached her hand toward his. He watched mutly as she wrapped her hand around his and together they turned the knob. The door pushed open a bit and he looked back to her. She smilied and removed her hand. He slowly followed suit and watched her as she calmly walked through the door.

When she rounded a corner he looked down at his hand. His right one was considerably less deformed than its left counterpart but it was still discolored, scared beyond belief, and still had tiny bumps scatered across the surface. Yet she touched it. Without flinching no less. He was beyond confused.

"You comming or what?" Her voice made his head snap up and he walked through, closing the door behind him. He could at least do that..

Turning, he couldn't see the girl, he could still smell her though. Where had she gone so fast?

He heard a kind of grunting sound from somewhere near the kitchen. We walked foward just in time to almost run into the girl who had a big peice of wood. He watched her almost struggle with the thing, bringing it to the window. She layed it down and leaned it aganist her. "Thank god this family seems to have been pack-rats." She looked to the wood then to the window then back again. "Lets start with this."

After a few more trips up and down the stairs that he realized lead to a basement, she finally seemed to have everything she needed. As she went about her business he stood next to the couch and watched her. She was bent over the wood, putting various marks on it. His attention, however, was on her body. His eyes travled up and down her back, lingering at her hips where it curved.

His instincts were nagging at him again. Being the special infected he was his train of thought wasn't always focused on the primal things the commons did. Primal being: Kill, eat, and fuck. Where as those were a big part of his brain functions he was determined not to attack her, which meant no eating her.

However, in the past 24 hours, even before they had made contact, his instincts were trying to push him to do the latter of the three. Even his decayed brain knew that, that would not end well. Even so, it was a challenge not to touch her. Everything about her called to him. Her body, her scent, her touch...

He looked at his hand again. When she had touched him it sent a spark through his entire body. He'd done his best to ignore it but the feel of her skin was so nice. He never knew how soft human skin was. Never took the time to really feel it before anyway.

His hand clenched. Being the monster he was he never took the time to-

All thoughts were cut off when Ameleia cried out. His head snapped to her in time to see her lurch to her feet, cradling her arm close to her. Before he had a chance to try and figure out what had happened the smell of blood hit him. Her blood.

His eye widened a bit and his body stiffened up. Her back was turned to him. She'd never even know what hit her. Easy prey. Eazy kill...

His right hand shot to his left. Holding it to his side after it had been reaching for her. He took a half step back, his face contorted in a grimace. As he fought his body he tried reasoning with himself. _'She smells so good...'_

_'Can't eat her now. Not after using so much effort to keep her safe.'_ Aganist his will a growl slipped from his lips.

She turned to him still holding her hand to her chest. Her finger was bleeding where she had cut it in the sharp object she found in the basement. He couldn't take his eye off that finger... He began shaking.

"Moses? Are you alright?" Her voice made him flinch and he took another half step back. His eye darted to her face. She looked conserned and took a step toward him, her own cut forgotten. He tried to back away from her more only to have his back hit the wall. She reached out a hand, worry clear on her face. Finally, her hand came in contact with his right arm.

Mistake.

Quick as lightning he charged her, praticly slamming her into the oppisite wall. Her eyes met his as he placed his left hand on the wall beside her head. He stared at her. Fear, shock, and confusion danced across her face but she didn't make a sound, nor did she move. Standing this close to her he could sence everything about her with his preditor like hearing. Her breathing was slightly ragged in fear. His eyes travled down to her neck. He could see the vein pulsing under the skin with every beat of her heart, which was eratic at the moment.

With the smooth movement of a preditor, he leaned into her neck. He felt his damaged face press aganist her cheek and she flinched. He pressed his nose into the soft part of her neck. He could feel her wild pulse aganist his own cheek. He took a long drag of her scent, barley containing the cough that threatened after. She smelled like herself mixed heavily with fear. It sent fire down his spine.

A small noise interupted him from his thoughts. He felt the vibrations from her voice in her neck. "M-M-Moses... I..." She sounded almost winded.

He raised his head and looked at her. Her eyes were wide but not with fear anymore. Just confusion and still a bit of shock and something else he couldn't quite place. After a long silence the look melted into a smile. The smoker was the one to be confused this time. Her smile remained and she visibly relaxed, the smell of her fear ebbing away. "If you wanted a hug all you had to do was ask."

He blinked. Had she misintrepreted his actions that badly? It didn't seem likely but...

Luckily, by then her reaction had calmed whatever had gotten into him down and he slid his hand away, and stepped back. Her smile faded a bit as she watched him and she put a hand on her hip. "Now that we got that out of our systems lets get back to work shall we?" She turned her back to him and looked at her finger. She stuck it in her mouth, effectivly sealing the small cut and went back to her work.

The smoker stood there watching her for a while longer. Inside he was shocked at himself. He looked at his hand... He had attacked her... He lost control and.. He shook his head almost violently. He wouldn't allow that to happen again.

He glanced at her again and saw the gun glitting from her waist line and his eyes narrowed. She hadn't even tried to go for it when he attacked her. Did she trust him that much? It scared him how much she didn't seem to want to use the thing. He could only protect her from so much...

...

Hours later everything was finally finished. I walked around the house with Moses in tow to examine my work on the windows. I couldn't find any bars or stronger material but there was a ton of plywood in the basement and I found that once I nailed them in place they held pretty good. I had Moses test all the windows strenght and to my suprise, and delight, they held fast to his attacks.

Going back to the door I had Moses try to open it again. He still couldn't quite grasp it on his own but once I helped him he was able to turn the handle and open the door. That was at least progress so I was disinclined to do anything but smile.

I glanced up at the tarp that now covered the once-hole in the roof. I would've liked something stronger but tarp would hold back any rain better than wood would. Which by the darkening clouds I could tell was on its way.

Home improvement specialist I was not but all in all I was proud of my work. I stood with my hands on my hips, looking around, and nodding. "Alright... That just about does it." I turned and smilied at Moses. "We are officially finished. Now we-" I cut off abruptly. Moses cocked his head to the side and I felt a blush creep, once again, to my cheeks.

It was bath time...

**...**

**AN: lol Feel free to hate me for leaving off there. This chapter was more just a way to get my thoughts straight. Now I can get to some interesting juciy parts. Yay for akward situations!**

**Me likey reviews. Give me more!**

**-rages like a child-**


	7. Bath time

**AN: -Evil giggle- I think I'm gonna have fun writing this one.**

**Btw, I was reading over my last chapters and noticed I failed epicly. Moses not-as -deformed side is his **_**right**_** side. Don't know how excatly how I failed so badly with that but I'm correcting it now.**

**Also, to Arktemis, -Hands you your virtual cookie-**

**Enjoy.**

**You people have to be getting tired of my ANs by now but it just feels like there's always something I feel the need to say. I'm just a babbler like that. :/**

**...**

It was bath time...

...

Still on my heels, Moses trudged after me with only a slight pause. To be honest I was suprised to find the house still had power and running water. That meant the town was still in pretty good shape. I'd have to find some place to find food and supplies at some point and a town that still had water at least meant I had a chance of finding what I needed. I had already gone through all the canned food the house had to offer.

But, I would worry about that later. Right now I had something more... Urgent to attend to.

I was going to shower with a zombie. Perhaps I was insane, but thinking more about it I guess I really didn't care. I honestly expected to die any day. Away from their group, a lone survivor could only last so long...

I shoved those thoughts aside and looked at the bathroom door. I had to focus. Anything could happen at this point. I pushed the door open and looked around. It had obviously been worked on. It was a pretty small bathroom. Just enough room for me and Moses to stand in it with the door closed. The fancy shower/tub took up the other half of space the room had to offer. We could probably both sit down in the tub without touching eachother... As I prepaired the shower I off-handedly began to wonder when my luck would run out.

When I turned on the water flow the familiar sounds made me breathe a sigh of contentment. It didn't last long cause shortly after I heard a weezing cough from close behind me. I took a steadying breath and turned to him. In the inclosed space of the bathroom it felt like he towered even higher over me. 'Come on girl, get a grip. You've faced off infected the size of SUVs. You can handle this.'

Making myself look asserting, I puffed out my chest. Terrible habit of mine, proof that I watched too much animal planet back in the day. "Moses." His eyes met mine and all my courage drained away like an already dead battery. Off-handedly I noticed he had sucked his tongue back in. Everynow and then it would be hanging out of his mouth but if I were looking at him for any amount of extended time, the moment I would look away he would suck it back in. Odd...

My eyes shifted to the wall next to me and I returned to the present. "I uh, ... Well, you see..." I set my chin. "The shower isn't all that big. I mean, it is but not for two people... So... We'll do this one at a time alright?" I glanced up at him.

He shifted and his eyes narrowed, but he didn't look angry. I hastily added "I know I said we'd... we'd... together... But..." I could've kicked myself. Getting this flustered only showed how much of a coward I was. That thought gave me enough backbone to finish. "I'll... help you, um, you know, wash and stuff. Cause you have a hard time with doors and..." His eyes narrowed further.

"I didn't mean anything by it, it's just... Akward.." Oh, and giving him a bath wasn't? Well, this day has just been full of stupid ideas hasn't it? I turned my back to him and crossed my arms. "Anyway, that's how we're gonna do this alright?" I refused to face him.

After a long pause I heard him do what I could only describe as a sigh. I glanced around my sholder at him. When our eyes met he gave me a small nod. I blinked. I really hadn't expected him to agree with it, but I wasn't about to give him time to change his mind. Facing him, I gave him a happy smile. "Thank you. This makes my life easier." He grunted and looked away.

I turned and finished prepairing the bath, checking the temperature and adding some soap. I could feel Moses leaning in to see what I was doing. He got just a it too close for my comfort, but before I could say anything, or even turn, he let out a gargaling scream and lurched foward a bit. Being as close as he was caused him to collide his legs to my back, sending me sprawling into the bath tub.

When I finally righted myself I sat in the water coughing. Once I had air and not liquid in my lungs I glared up at Moses. Right before I said anything, however, I stopped. He was standing in a half attack stance, staring intently at the mirror. Slowly, his body relaxed, but his eyes never left his reflection for a second. He reached a hand up and touched his finger to the reflective surface, then, with the same hand, he touched his own face. His hand stayed there for a long time. I gulped. "Mo-?"

Without warning, his hand shot out and shattered the mirror. I flinched, expecting mirror bits to come flying at me. They, thankfully, stayed connect to the base. He kept his hand there for a while. His black blood began to drip down his knuckles, down the mirror, to drip into the sink below. After yet another pause he pulled his hand away and looked at it.

Eventually finding myself I stood up. The noise of the water pouring out of my soaked clothes made him look at me. Not too worried about the floor I stepped out and reached to his other side for the toilet paper. From there I took some and took his hand. As gently as I could I pressed it aganist his knuckles. He flinched slightly but didn't otherwise move. I dabbed at the flowing blood while my clothes dripped water all over the floor.

When it had finally stopped bleeding I chanced a look at him. There was no mistaking the look of pain on his face. It obviously wasn't physical suffering either... My own expression softened into one of sympathy. "Moses..." He blinked. "Did... your reflection upset you?" I asked softly.

He glanced at the broken mirror then back at me, nodding after a pause.

I tossed the toilet paper in the direction I thought the trash can was and turned back to him. With his injured hand still held in my own I took my other hand and placed it over his, giving him a smile. "Ever heard of the term 'Don't judge a book by its cover'? Well, the principle applies to you. I don't care what you look like. You helped me, so that makes us friends."

At the 'I don't care what you look like' part his eyes bore into my own. Like he was looking into my very soul, checking for the truth. I kept my smile up a bit longer and tilted my head to the side a tiny bit. "You silly smoker. That wasn't a very smart idea." He look confused. I looked down at his reddening hand. "Does it hurt? Glass cuts bleed a ton."

When I looked back up to him he had a deer in the headlights look but shook his head slowly. I pursed my lips and let his hand go. I placed my hands on my soping wet clothes and half-glared at him. "Well I'm soaked and already uncomfortable, so lets make it worse, shall we?" I stood about six inches away from him and grabbed the edges of his jacket. I met his gaze as my hands slid up it to the collar, easing it off his sholders and down his arms.

His ragged breathing picked up some but he didn't move. I bit the inside of my lip to try and ease my nervousness and I took the hem of his shirt. I raised it past his stomach but kept my eyes on him. "Lift your arms for me?" My voice cracked in what sounded like fear and I cleared my throat. Damn, I was such a nervous wreck right now..

Almost stiffly, he brought his hands above his head. I rolled the shirt up and off his head, stepping close to him to reach. As he brought his arms down it brought me face-to- chest with him. My face darkened and I gulped. "I-I'm going to get your pants now.." Not giving him time to respond I backed up and went for the belt that held his pants up. Aganist my will my eyes kept darting to his exposed body. I'd been right about his muscles. A six pack and pecks were visible under the discoloration of his skin and the scars that seemed to cover the better part of his body. I noted that the slashes the Hunter gave him yesterday were also somewhat healed as well. What really got my attention, however, was that he didn't have any bumps on his chest.

Eventually I managed to get the belt undone through fumbling fingers, but I stopped there. Moses gave off a soft weezing sound and I praticly flinched. "S-Sorry... It's just not excatly something I'm used to doing." I whispered. Feeling like I might pass out from nerves I loosened his pants and let them slide down his legs. to my great relief he wore a pair of black boxers with flames going up the legs. I had to bite my lip, hard, to stop from bursting into giggles. I quickly averted my eyes and decided to just watch the wall. "We're, um, going to keep those on, ok?" He didn't say anything so I took it as a yes and continued. "You can get in the tub now..."

The bumps... The were down his left leg, covering it just like his arm. But not his chest... How strange...

He shuffled past me and stood there watching the water for a moment. He turned to me and put his hands on my sholders. With one fluid motion he spun me around, facing the door. I stared at the door for a while in confusion then turned back to him. Before I could ask anything he garggled a scream at me and I saw he had his hands at the waist line of the boxers. My eyes widened and I jerked my head back to the door, my face flaring crimson.

'He's taking the boxers off! Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!' I was on the verge of having a nervous melt down when the sound of him getting in the tub made my mind go completly blank. I stayed there, unmoving, for a long time apparently because after a while Moses let out an impatient sound. Gathering what little courage I could I turned.

Moses was sitting in the tub watching me a bit too closly. The edge of the tub hid anything below his midruff but his knees poked up above the water due to his height. Then a few seconds of staring at the tub I realized the suds from the soab hid anything below the surface. Breathing a sigh of relief I took the step that put me right beside the tub. Bending to my knees I forced a smile at him.

Ever so timidly I put my hands on the hem of my own shirt. "I, uh... I hope you don't mind... I'm going to take my shirt off. It, er.. is uncomfortable now that it's sticking to me and... stuff." Wow, as if I couldn't make myself sound like more of an idiot.

He stared at me for a while then looked at the slightly rippling water around him. I took the time and in one quick motion, slipped my shirt off, leaving me in my plain white bra. I felt somewhat exposed but not nearly as bad as I thought I would; given the current situation.

I glanced back to Moses and saw that he was watching me again. Once our eyes met he quicky turned his attention back to the water. He raised his arm and watched at water fall through his hand. A giggle slipped past my lips and he turned his head back to me.

I couldn't help it. I mean any sane person saw us they'd die of laughter... If they didn't first shoot Moses and throw me in a mental instutite. The thought made me grimace and I swipped the wash cloth I had found eariler off the sink counter and dipped it in the water somewhere by his feet. After throughly soaking the cloth I got parallel to him. "Lean foward, I'm gonna start on your back." Much to the aproval of my raging nerves I saw that he seemed just as flustered by the situation as I was. I could see it in the way his body was tense and trembling ever so slightly.

Slowly, almost as if his body didn't want him to, he shifted himself foward, exposing his back to me. His knees were even further out of the water now but I foced myself to focus on his back. 'The bumps are almost in the same place space wise as his chest...' I noted off-handedly. I raised the cloth and pressed it to his back. He immeaditly flinched.

I pulled away. "Oh. I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" I never even considered the posibility that his skin would be sore...

I couldn't see his face, but after a pause he slowly shook his head.

As gently as I could I pressed the wash cloth to his back again. To his credit he didn't flinch like last time but I could see his body tense. It wasn't long though, before his muscles relaxed and I finally began washing his back. Moving in slow circles I scrubbed the dirt out, but didn't push too hard. To my worry he bagan growling- no... It was that odd purring sound again. I continued to wash down his back but couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

Funny, I never would have pegged him for a cat-like zombie. Then again... I guess I never would have pegged him anything but a threat. Now I was bathing the damn thing! Perhaps I was insane...

The thought made me pause and stare at the wall oppisite of me. Moses turned his head and gave a questioning weeze. I blinked, returning to reality, and gave him a weary smile. "Sorry. Just thinking." I went back to scrubbing and he went back to purring.

I moved to his upper back and sholders and began to babble. "If my brother or Aaron saw me doing this they'd probably give me a good thump on the head..."

Moses turned his head just slightly to let me know he was listening. So I assumed anyway.

I continued my babble. "I wonder how things would've been if the boys were with me... Aaron might've shot you... He's jumpy like that. Kaiden, my brother, I don't really know what he would've done to be honest... Growing up we were praticly twins. We just thought alike. So he might've given you a chance like I did."

I moved to his right arm. I was quite suppirsed that his natural skin color wasn't the dark greenish the infected seemed to all have but a more darkened skin color with only a hint of green. Outloud, I said "I'm really glad you decided not to eat me..." His purring stopped but he didn't move. "...If I really had to be in this kind of situation alone I probably wouldn't make it too long...I hate to admit it but I've become quite dependant on my group. I guess that would happen to anyone really but I'm not a very go-to kind of girl. I just don't see myself making it very long on my own."

I leaned over the tub and started on his left arm. When I began scrubbing the tumors I watched him for any kind of pain. He didn't make a sound or move in the slightest so I kept going. "This is a random question, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but..." I paused trying to figure the best way to word it. He turned his head but he couldn't quite look at me form the angle. "Like... Do you, I mean, like, Smokers and Hunters and the such, run in packs or anything?"

I don't know what excatly he attempted to do but either way he shifted foward and turned more. My weight, being as off balance as it was, shifted with him and my upper body fell in the tub. Me being the graceful creature I am[pfft], I flailed about as I inhaled water into my lungs. But before I could try and get my bearings a pair of rough hands grabbed me, by the arms, and pulled me up. The akward angle had my body pulled into the tub but at least my head was above the water now.

I coughed a few times and rubbed my eyes. I could hear Moses giving off what sounded like conserned whine/weezing sounds. As I sputtered I reasured him "I-I'm fine... I-" Pause for a few more lung clearing coughs "I just fell... Thanks for the help." I smilied at him, pushing the wet hair out of my face.

He contunued to watch me and I busied myself with looking around. "Well, looks like we did end up taking a bath together." I laughed but then searched for the wash cloth. I blinked as it floated in the water between us. I didn't bother to pick it up though. My brain was still overloading at this point. Freaking out at my situation, at the fact that Moses was naked in the tub with me, at the fact that it was a he in the tub with me. I was getting a headache, and my pants were extremly uncomfortable at this point.

Moses reached out and picked up the wash cloth and handed it out to me. He obviously wanted to continue his bath. Considering he was facing me now he probably wanted me to do his chest now...

I took the cloth and he leaned back ever so slightly, confirming my thoughts. Fantastic.

How was I supposed to do this?.. I glanced down, unsure how he even had his legs postioned at the moment. The added "bonus" of him being naked made it that much more dangerous if I accidently touched something. The thought of course made my face flush. I clenched the cloth.

'Come on girl! Do or die. Don't be a pussy...' I swallowed and mustered up what little courage I could and shifted to my knees. "Er... Streatch your legs out." I mummbled.

I could feel his legs slide between my parted knees and I tried to ignore how sensual this really was. I shimmied foward just a tad and leaned foward, streatching my hand out and began scrubbing his chest. My face had to be beet red at this point, I could feel the fire going through me at least.

Eventually tearing my eyes away from my "work" I looked into Moses face. And abruptly stopped. At the angle I was in it put my chest at about his head level. And he was staring right at it. "Moses?" To my horor my voice praticly squeaked. I suppose any girl would have done that in my situation I suppose..

At my voice, Moses jerked and his eyes shot to mine. His hasty movement however threw me off balance and my knees slid right out from under me.

I slammed, face first, into his chest and the rest of my body slid into him. I grabbed his arms for support just as he grabbed my elbows, bracing me.

If I though my face was hot before it was an inferno now. This close to him, nose to chest that is, I could really smell him. He smelled... like the outside world still but only faintly now. The more promanate smell was of soap and... Man. That natural musk that most guys seemed to give off. For a second my body relaxed into him and I felt my eyes slowly close... My waist brushed into something strangly stiff feeling under the water...

'BADBADBADBADBADBADBAD!'

My mind screaming at me brought me back to a somewhat aware state and I realized what was brushing my bare skin.

I shoved off him almost violently, sending water everywhere. Our eyes met for an instant. His confused gaze and my, without a doubt, deer-in-the-headlights look. A second later I scrambled out of the tub, slamming my knees aganist the side multiple times, and ran from the room; my jeans dripping water everywhere. I didn't really care about that at this point. All I knew is that I had to leave. And NOW.

I ended up in the kitched and leaned aganist a counter, panting oddly enough. I attempted to grasp everything that had happened.

He was a man, that I knew from the begining, so of course he'd have... that...

I bit my lip, hard, I could taste the blood a bit but that was the least of my worries. I could still feel the heat pumping through me, in one spot in particular...

"Calm down... Eazy..." I whispered to myself. "You're just... A little off because of all that has happened resently. Not thinking straight... Yeah, that's it.." I stared at the ceiling. "Can my life get any more complicated?"

Did I even have to ask?

**...**

**AN: Okay so not as "fun" as I first thought but it's not my fault. My charaters do what they want, I swear. Dx**

**Akward enough though yeah? Yay me! -is a tard-**

**Why do I keep writing these things at such ungodly hours? x.x**

**Also, fun fact for ya: The house they're in is actually my house. lol whoot for orginality huh?**


	8. Detached

**AN: Here's your reward for waiting so long for me. :D **

**I have to give a big thank you to all my reviewers. They help me so much it's sad really. And so far they've all been positive. Makes my day; you people have no idea. I personally thought the last chapter was quite stupid and as soon as I submitted it I wanted to take it down. **

**But! Enough of my whining.**

**I found that the akwardness was quite amusing so lets make it worse for poor Ameleia shall we?**

**...**

It wasn't like he hated water, back in the hunting days he'd walk through neck-deep water just to track his prey, but the concept of what a baths purpose was sent his infected mind reeling. A bath was something that was at the bottom of the list of survival priorities, so the whole thing seemed down right a waste of time.

But...

The woman... Ameleia... She wanted him to do it. Oddly enough it was that thought that gave him enough will power to push his instincts away and go with it.

It had been going so well too. Her rubbing the cloth along his back felt so good and just... her being there... When she had taken off her shirt he felt that now familiar tingle travel up his spine. When she had gotten in the bath with him... Well, he hadn't felt that content in a long time. That had been going well too even if she couldn't quite stand on her own.

Then she fell into him... His body felt like it had been lit on fire, and yet, there was no pain. It was hard to describe but he was still increadibly happy. Something he couldn't even name. When she shoved him away with a look of almost fear his decayed heart throbbed painfully. Then she ran away, leaving him confused and alone in the tub.

What had he done wrong? He hadn't hurt her had he? No... She even leaned into him. So she was enjoying it too? That made sence but why did she run?

His eye narrowed and he looked down at the water. Lifting his left hand he stared at the decayed and deformed flesh.

Of course she had run away. She was a human and he was a monster. A monster that could, at any time, hurt her. He clenched his fist at that. Even if it was himself, the thought of the female getting hurt angered him, more of a posessive wave of fury really.

His head lifted and he stared at the door she had slammed shut behind her. He wasn't sure if she was going to come back or not but he wasn't comfortable having her out of his sight for too long. With a few weezing sighs he got up and stared at his pile of clothes on the floor and realized he now had a new problem.

He wasn't sure if he could put the things on himself...

...

It had taken a while, but I finally got myself to calm down. Putting dry clothes on had probably helped but I wasn't about to even think about what had happened in the bathroom. Ignoring the situation was probably a stipid thing to do but thinking about it I'd convinced myself that I had more important matters to worry about. My food supplies for example.

I had gotten lucky with the water at the house, simply needing to turn the water supply back on. A store of some kind couldn't be too far away right? Just a little trial and error of walking around the town.

The problem was that "error" more often then not meant being mauled by a zombie. In a group that was at least a bit less to worry about. I was on my own now-

My head snapped up to the hallway. No... Not alone really. I trusted Moses.. Wait, what? I trusted a zombie?

Thinking about it, he hasn't given me any reason not to As if called Moses stepped into my view. My face reddened and I felt my eyes widen.

Moses was holding a wad of, what I assumed was his clothes, in front of him. Buuut, saddly not enough in front.

I forced my eyes to stare intently at the frige, my face surly a comical shade of red. "Uh- Uh, Moses!" My voice betrayed everything I was feeling. "Put those on!" Ever the subtial one.

From the corner of my eye I could see that he wasn't doing anything. 'You have got to be kidding me..' Surly he knew how to put his clothes back on... Then again I hadn't had any kind of luck in this particular situation yet so why start now?

Feeling like my face was going to explode I made eye contact with him and strode foward. 'Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down.' His head tilted to the side at my flustered look. I stood directly in front of him, keeping my head crained up, and took the wad of clothes. Turning my face to the side I found his underwear and praticly shoved them in his face. His head jerked back but I didn't relent. "Put these on." It sounded almost like a threat.

Ever so slowly he took the garmet but all he did was lower them to stare at my face. I blinked confused but before I could say anything his free hand entered my line of sight and I flinched from reflex. He faultered but after a pause his hand continued to my face; his finger pressed to the skin just below my lip. I flinched again as a stinging feeling hit me from his touch. I was confused for a moment then remembered that I had bitten my lip eariler. I really must have broken the skin...

He pulled his hand away and I could see a shiny drop of my blood on his finger tip. He brought it close to his face and stared at it for a while. Then, slowly, he brought it to his lips and his tongue snaked out and licked it up in a flash.

My body froze up. If I wanted to be honest I was terrofied but I couldn't quite get my body to respond. Moses eye closed and he exhaled in a shaky breath, coughing slightly afterward. I stood there like an idiot, my eyes never leaving his face. His eye cracked open and looked down at me with almost an absent look. Like he could see into my soul.

Fidgiting slightly I cleared my throat loudly and he blinked, a more aware look on his face now. I swallowed out of nervousness and took a tiny step back from him. "Put your clothes on... We're going out."

At that last part he straightened a bit and blinked, shifting slightly.

At least he snapped out of whatever had gotten into him... I turned to avoid.. looking at him and continued. "We need to find more supplies. If we can find a place that has a large store of food-" I cut off abruptly as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn't have to turn to know that Moses was standing a few mere inches away from me behind me.

I bristled and it felt like my face almost exploded. "Moses!" I praticly screeched. I felt him jump.

So he was that close. Lovely... I took a step foward. "Put some clothes on for gods sake! I'm not going into town with you naked." Like it really mattered now. I'm such a moron...

Without waiting for him to respond I walked to the door, opened it, stepped out, and slammed it behind me in one fluid motion.

I must of had some kind of death wish. Screaming and slamming doors while there could be infected anywhere...

The thought made me nervous; mercifully, a different kind of nervous at least... I pulled the pistol out and scanned the area. Clear...

Moving to the bush line that lead to the road I peeked out from around the corners and scanned the streets. Also empty.

I stepped further out and once I was satsifyed I was alone I put the gun back at my waist line, glaring at the ground. I was greatful but why wern't there any zombies? I hadn't seen a one in days... Aside from Moses but he hardly counted.

Scratching the back of my head my eyes went to the spot where the hunters body was- Well supposed to be anyway. A large pool of dried blood was the only indication that it was ever there. So logic dictated that zombies would at least be near, right? I listened, straining my ears to pick up any kind of sound but there was nothing. The wind, occasional call of a crow, but that was it.

And to top it all off I had a bad feeling. Distaster was gonna hit and it was gonna hit hard. Wonderful.

Still looking around suspisously, I walked to Moses tree and leaned aganist it. Going into deep thought probably wasn't the best of ideas at the moment but what can I say? I'm not the brightest lightbulb in house.

Moses... I could hardly consider him a zombie, an enemy. What had happened in the bathroom wasn't his fault yet I had taken my frustration out on him. Despite what I wanted to say, or think, my body had reacted to him...

I burried my face in my hands. I'm discusting. He was a dead man... A canabilistic monster-

On its own my body turned to the side and I slammed my chenched fist, aganist the side of the tree. Briliant. Bitting my lip to avoid screaming, I craddled my arm close to my chest. A quick glance told my I broke the skin on my knuckles and it was bleeding. I whimpered feeling all kinds of stupid and misrible. And angry. At myself.

Moses was hardly a monster. How could I even think that about him? He's done nothing but help me, protect me. He was nice and I trusted him, even if the lack of communication sometimes made being around him a challenge. He may have been.. Dead.. but he smelled suprisingly nice and, take away the growths, scars, and discoloration of his skin, he's actually not that bad looking. Well built and he's- WOAH! Time out!

Staring at the street like it had turned into cheese, my arms fell to my sides and I slid down the tree trunk into a sitting postion.

I could defend him all I wanted but he was still what he was. Yet...

Feeling frustrated beyond my breaking point I pulled my legs up to my chest and stiffled a sob. Could life get anymore unfair?...

...

_"MOM! Please! What's going on?"_

_I pulled Kaiden along with me almost roughly. "Stop it already! She can't hear us!" I screamed at him._

_Shoving him around the corner of a fence I could hear the screams of our mom still on our heels._

_Kaiden had broke earlier that day and went to check on our still crying mom in her room. The resulting screams had jarred me from my current game. It had sounded human but at the same time.. not..._

_Shortly after I could hear the sound of wood being scraped by something, a lot of somethings, and Kaiden barrled into the room looking like he had seen a ghost, the boogie man and a rabbid dog all at once._

_He had been trying to tell me something but making cohearent sounds was apparently beyond him at that point._

_A second later our mom came into the room._

_Well, at least it looked like her..._

_A tiny part of me knew what had happened, everything else denied it. Luckily my body was at least thinking straight. Right as she charged us I grabbed Kaiden and shoved him out the front door, slamming it back in Moms face._

_It had only taken her mere seconds for her claws- No... __tallons__, to break through the door. _

_I hoped that someone, anyone, would see this and try to offer some kind of help, but the usually crowded streets were completly empty and quiet._

_Sometime later we somehow ended up back at our house. And, of course, that was when Mom finally got a hold of us, Kaiden to be excat. The blow knocked him off balance and she was on him in an instant, slicing through his left leg. Kaidens resulting scream was teeth shattering._

_I instantly went to the entertainment center; knowing that was where mom kept her gun. I slid a clip that was laying next to it in place and turned back to the scene. My blood ran cold._

_Kaiden was staring up at Mom, tears freely flowing down his face, a hand clutching his leg which now bleed freely._

_Mom had her arms half raised like she was going to slash at him again, but her expression... Her eyes were wide with shock, mouth parted in denial, her face still streaked in tears. Aganist my will, a small noise escaped my lips and her head snapped up to look at me. _

_It was as if time stopped. Her look made me want to cry. Without warning she let out a frightenly loud sob/scream and I flinched. She looked down at Kaiden then back to me then to him again. Slowly she took a step back and crumpled to her knees, rocking herself gently._

_What could I do? Adredalin still pumped through my veins and my heart beat wildly, hands shaking from fear, energy, and god knows what._

_A second later she screamed again. Only this time with words... "KILL ME!" It sounded human... But like her windpipe was scratched with a cheese grater and racked with sobs. So loud I wanted to cover my ears. I couldn't quite find the strength to do so._

_She turned her head to me again, her tears soaking her face once more. "KIIILLL MMMEEEE!" She screamed again, only this time louder and less human sounding... It broke my heart. I praticly felt the peices fall to the pit of my stomach._

_Kaidens voice made me jump slightly, "Mom..." It was little more than a whisper._

_Her head fell once more and she continued to rock herself and sob loudly. I took in her apperance. In the 24 hours since I had last seen her she lost an unbelivable amount of weight. He clothes hung loosely around her body, her shirt anyway. Her underwear clung to her boney hips and I could see the outline of bones and muscle on her scrawny legs. And the claws..._

_A soft, broken sob escaped my own lips. The odd "disease" that the news had been warning everyone about... I knew excatly what it was... I knew excatly what my mom had become..._

_And excatly what I had to do._

_The tears clouded my vision as I took the few wobbling steps that put me directly beside her._

_I could feel the warm salty liquid fall in turrents down my face as I deftly cocked a bullet into the pistol chamber. Mom began rocking harder and I felt a hand grab my ankle. _

_Feeling too detached to actually react I turned my head and saw Kaiden looking at me with what I could only describe as betrayal. "Ameleia, no..." The broken pain he said it with matched what I was feeling inside. From the corner of my eye I saw Mom clench her head tightly, her blood covered claws sticking straight up._

_I felt so empty... Looking back that might have been a good thing... all things considered... The emptyness I felt probably saved our lives... I still wouldn't ever forgive myself. No matter what._

_I faced Mom fully and raised the pistol barrel to her head. It was mere inches from touching her. Even in its shattered state I could feel the peices continue to break. My hand began to shake and I had to hold the gun with both hands to keep it steady. I wimpered and Mom echoed my noise. I could feel every muscle in my body fight what my brain had already made up. In one swift motion I cocked a bullet into the gun chamber. I shook my head as my breathing hitched in hyperventalation. "I'm sorry..."_

_Moms arms lowered and she hugged herself tightly, looking even smaller. "I'm sorry..." I said a little louder. Her wailing grew louder. "I'm sorry." She just kept getting louder. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I screamed. I didn't want to do this... My arms shook uncontroably and I could barley see past the tears in my eyes. My mom... My best friend..._

_ "NO!"_

_Kaidens yell caused Mom to flinch and she jerked her head up to me. In that instant I pulled the trigger...-_

...

I jumped and my head snapped up. A zombie was-! No... It was just Moses... At least he had clothes on now... He looked down to me, consern not even being attempted to be hidden.

It took a moment but I realized that I had apparently fallen asleep. He had woken me up by making a noise...

I then realized that my face felt wet... A quick glance down told me that my knees and front of my shirt were soaked with my tears. I wiped my face silently but grimaced when I felt a stinging as the skin on my damaged knuckles stretched.

My head snapped up as Moses crouched in front of me and took my hand with suprising gentleness, examining my knuckles.

A moment later he looked back to me. I assumed he wanted an explaination so I cleared my throat. "I... Was upset..." My voice cracked and hitched. God, I was pathetic...

He paused for a long time, his eyes and face unreadable. Slowly, he raised his other arm and pointed to himself.

I blinked confused for a moment then realized what he was trying to say. "N- No. It wasn't because of you." Apparently I was right; he lowered his arm and tilted his head to the side.

Looking away I sniffled, wondering if I should really tell him. It couldn't hurt, right? I mean, come on, who was he going to tell anyway? "I... I had another dream..." My voice wasn't more than a whisper. He still held my hand but I found that I really wasn't bothered by it.

I continued. "It was about my mom... Back when all this started..." I wiped some fresh tears from my cheeks. I so did not want to talk about this right now, so being smart, for once, I skirted around the story entirly. "I just... Miss her..." I kept my eyes trained on the ground.

Moses was silent, aside from his constand weezing breathing and occasional cough, for so long that I glanced at him. His expression was soft and the moment our eyes met he gave my hand a light squeeze. It hurt my knuckles a bit but the action caused my eyes to widen a bit.

He was trying to comfort me. That much was obvious. Such a... human thing to do...

I felt butterflies go through my stomach. The sensation brought me out of my little depressed state and I came back to reality. I had things to do. I couldn't mope all day.

Huffing with the effort I slowly got up, using the tree for support. Moses rose with me, his hand never leaving mine. Using my free hand I wiped my face clean and gathered myself. Clearing my throat a few times I looked around. It had darkened a bit, glancing up I could see that dark clouds had rolled in. It would be raining soon...

Facing Moses I spoke with an even voice. "Come on.. Lets see if we can find some kind of store before the rain hits."

In one fluid motion I took a step foward and removed my hand from his. Choosing a random direction I began walking. Seconds later Moses joined my side, close enough that we might as well have held hands... To be honest I wouldn't have minded it...

I closed my eyes and let out a silent sigh.

If my life were any more fucked up I'd have my own TV show.

**...**

**AN: Tell me, did my dramatic mom scene make anyone sad? I'm not sure if I got the right amount of emotion across... Meh.**

**Wow I suck. On average I get about 1-5 paragraphs a day. x.x**

**Proof of how much of a horrid attention span I have. And of course still writing these things at 2-6 in the morning. Oi...**

**Reviews make Red a happy writer. :B**


	9. The man inside

**AN: Wow... Last chapter I "Cocked a bullet" twice. Herp-a-derp. x.x**

**But here's the next chapter. Quick wasn't it? It's shorter but I'm fairly certain you'll like it. :3**

**And to Eternelle****-**

**I can't tell you how much your reviews make me smile. I just feel so loved that you seem so into my story. -Squees like a little girl-**

**Ahem... Moving on.**

**...**

I stared at the barren parking lot with a detached look. Well, the parts of the parking lot I could see anyway. Just as I thought rain had come.

Turns out the house I was in had been pretty close to the center of town. A bunch of fast food joints lined a long highway leading to a Walmart.

I was able to see all this from a hill a McDonalds happened to be on. I wanted to get to the Walmart before the rain hit but my luck had apparently run out right then.

So here I was, trapped in McDonalds of all places, waiting out the storm. The only food left here was some stored pickles.. But what worried me was that the rain brought cold winds. It would pobably be getting colder soon and if I rememberd correctly, we had travled far enough north for snow. Yuck.. I hated the cold...

I chewed on the inside of my lip and huddled my arms close to myself, eyes still scanning the lot. I was not worried. Nope. Not one bit. Moses could take care of himself...

Hes been gone for a such a long time though... When we first got to the place he had tried to tell me something. When I couldn't figure it out he tried to say he just huffed and walked out, going down the hill back into the suburb out of my sight.

I was probably just being paranoid. I was bored and doing nothing slowed time to a crawl. I knew that but...

I clicked my teeth together and leaned aganist the back of a booth, my eyes still on the falling rain. What if he got attacked... But who would attack him out here? A survivor would. He might have run into some. What if he was hurt? What if he was dead?

I glared at the door frame feeling silly. 'What if the sky turns to fire and my nose falls off!' There was no need for me to get so worked up. I wasn't his keeper or his mother. He could stay out as long as he damn well pleased.

Ugh... That didn't stop my mind from playing the worst situations out. Why was I so worried about him anyway?

My glare intensifyed. Like that was even a question anymore. I cared about him; that much was painfully obvious. I could probably try to convince myself that it was simply because I had no one else left to seek comfort from. But even then I could only-

My mind went blank. Had I heard something just now? I pushed off the booth and looked out the door. Listening for a while I couldn't pick up any unfamiliar sounds. I was so worked up I was jumping at shadows. I don't think my nerves can take much more of-

I flinched and my hand shot to the pistol at my waist, but not pulling it out, and I looked around a bit more focused. I had deffinatly heard something that time.

I didn't have to worry for too long as a thud resounded from to my left and I jumped out of my skin, my head whiping toward the noise.

I heaved a sigh of relief and pulled my hand away from my gun. "Moses... Hell... Don't do that. Nearly gave me a..." My voice trailed off as I realized two things.

1- I'm a complete, utter, moron and how I survived the apocalypse this long escaped me.

2- That, clearly, wasn't Moses. One good look at him confirmed it...

It was too late for me to do anything really but as the smoker shot his tongue at me I attempted to step to the side to get behind the door. Didn't quite work so well. The slimy appendage wrapped around my waist and chest and I fought to slip out of the hold.

Too little too late. It tightened, pressing my arms to my sides and constristing my air flow. It was all I could do to stay on my feet as it dragged me toward him. My body went into fight mode and I thrashed around wildly, dug my heels in, anything to keep me away from the infected. As I was dragged out of the door I screamed. "Moses!" I vaguly wondered why I had called out for him but I had other pressing matters to attend to.

My ankle twisted in an akward angle when he dragged me across the curb and I fell to the ground. The movement cause some of the tongue to move to my neck and my oxygen flow was shut off completly. The rain pelted my face, adding to my list of problems.

I could feel the back of my head and parts of my skin not wrapped in the appendage scrape across the assfault as I fought to force air into my burning lungs. My head began to swim and black spots appeared at the corner of my eyes. All sounds were replaced with an obnoxious ringing noise and my legs still kicked out but I could barley feel them. I could, however, feel that the pain on my back had stopped and a moment later the smokers face appeared in my clouded vision. His tongue hung out of his mouth as he studied me.

My body still thrashed around but with much less vigor as I began losing strength and feeling in my extremities. My mouth worked in its attempt to try and force air into my body. The black spots meshed together and spread to the center of my eyes as what I could only describe as tunnel vision took my sight.

A second later a blur streaked across the view of my attacker and they both disappeared. The tongue wrapped around my neck tightened as I was yanked back a bit and I felt my eyes roll into the back of my skull. My lungs were on fire and my body was no longer responding.

Just as I was sure I was going to, mercifully, black out the tightness around my neck and body slackened and my arm shot up and pulled the appendage away from my neck. I instantly took a long and loud inhale of air and had to turn to the side as the oxygen burned my scorched windpipe. My body was racked with coughs and I panted to try and get my vision to clear. Hearing was the first sence to return to me, however.

The sounds comming from somewhere behind me were terrible. Like some kind of dog fight to the death. Barley contained snarles and ripping flesh sent chills down my spine but I couldn't take the time to look. My body was still forcing much needed oxygen into my spent lungs.

A loud snap ended all other sounds and shortly later a resounding thud. I coughed a few more times as quick footsteps came toward me. A second later a pair of legs came into my line of sight and instantly crounched down.

No amount of words could describe the relief I felt at seeing Moses conserned face. I couldn't use words anyway. I continued to pant harshly but at least I could do so without coughing.

His eye looked me over then he, almost violently, reached down and tore the other smokers tongue away from me, tossing it out of sight. He continued to look over my body, apparently looking for damage.

I watched him closly while I panted in gasps and rubbed my hand over my sore neck. My vision still swam and I was feeling increadibly lightheaded from lack of oxygen and blood in my head. 'He... He saved me...' Emotion took over me and I bolted up, pulling Moses in a tight hug.

He was caught off guard and was sent sprawling on his butt. I half crouched, half layed in between his legs as I clung to him. I began shaking; not only from the cold rain that drenched us both but from the phantom of fear that still coursed through my body. Burrying my face in his chest I hiccuped a sob, postioning myself ever closer to him.

Not sure how long I stayed like that but eventually I felt his arms, slowly, wrap around me. After another long pause he pulled me closer to him, hugging me just as tightly.

That was when I completly lost it. I began sobbing and shaking almost uncontrolably and Moses pulled me even closer to him. We stayed like that in the rain as I let out all my tears. If I really thought about it there was no reason for me to get so emotional right now... I suppose it was all the repressed emotion I was feeling lately. Losing my group... Memories plaguing my dreams... Akwardness with Moses... To whom I was currently snuggled up aganist...

After a few minutes I had managed to calm my sobs into small fits of hiccups and sniffles and I chanced a glance up at Moses. His eye was trained on something to our left and I turned my head to take a peek.

It was the body of the other smoker. I gulped and looked up to him again, pulling back slightly. The movement caused him to look down at me and I gave him a small smile. "I..." I started in a slightly cracked voice but cut off. Just thanking him didn't seem enough but what else could I really do? I exhaled quickly, looking to the side. "Thank you... I'd be... dead if you hadn't shown up when you did..." I swallowed.

I shivered once from the cold but didn't otherwise move; niether did he. I mean, I wasn't really expecting a reaction form him. He couldn't tell me it was fine or anything. Still... It'd be nice if he could at least-

All my thoughts abruptly cut off as a surpirsingly warm, calloused, hand reach under my chin and tipped my head back. Our eyes met and I felt my breath hitch just a tiny bit. His eye... I'd never been this close to him and actually looked at him. The eye that stared back at me... So human. If I stared at the one eye I could over look everything about him. Not that his apparence bothered me...

I blinked once and felt my lips part ever so slightly. He was... Warm... Probably just because I was soaking in the cold rain but I felt my body press into his. I barley registered that he was pressing back, my focus was still his eye. I could praticly see into his soul. His expression was his usual one, searching for something he was afraid might not be there. He looked lost really... Maybe he was just as lonely as I was.

Our faces were mere inches apart as we continued to stare at eachother. My lips parted a bit further as I choked on words I couldn't quite find. My brain, apparently, had one question in mind. "Moses... Do you... care about me?" The hushed question escaped my lips before I could even attempt to stop it.

I half expected him to just nod but all he did was continue to stare at me... For a long time. I was just about to move when he reached down with his other hand, his left one to be excat, and took my right hand. He then proceded to place my open hand on his chest, over his heart.

We continued to stare at eachother for a while then I glanced down at my hand on his chest. I could feel his heartbeat... It was pretty slow but it was unmistakeable.

I looked back up to him, squinting as the rain continued to pelt my face, and our eyes met once again. I didn't know what to say, or think for that matter. I was pretty dence sometimes but I wasn't stupid. It was pretty obvious what Moses was trying to "say." Just nodding would have been enough for me but he went as far as to do something so... romantic?

I could have burst out in laughter if I wasn't worried about ruining the moment. A zombie was trying to be romantic. This just had to have been a first... Even now it was hard to make light of the situation we were currently in. I was so close to him... And he still smelled suprisingly nice, not like he was dead, just a man in need of a shower...

I half smilied and pulled away from him, shakly getting to my feet. Moses was up in a second, hovering close, ready to catch me if I faultered. Once I was satisfyed I could stand I let out a big sigh. "Well, we're both already soaked. We might as well get to Walmart before it gets dark. Get new clothes and the such."

Not waiting for an answer I began walking in the direction of Walmart, Moses close behind me. My thoughts, however, wern't quite in the present. It shocked me, but when I was close to Moses I almost wanted to...

My hand reached up and I tentativly touched my lips. It may have been wrong but I found that I just didn't quite care anymore. There was more to Moses than I was willing to give him credit for.

There was a man in him... I didn't know what that meant for me yet but I had a feeling I would be figuring it out sooner than later.

**...**

**AN: I pulled an all-nighter to get this out as soon as I did. Ya'll better love me for this.**

**Anywho, I have a proposition for all my fans.**

**I'm playing with the idea of writing a Hunter story but, what should the story be?**

**Poll on my profile. Vote there. :D**


	10. Walmart

**AN: So many readers. :O**

**Im honored, really. But to be honest I think another writer has done an even better Smoker story than mine. I'm in love with it.**

**It's called "Were Doing It Wrong" By Keep It Quiet. If you people want a good story read hers. Her Smoker is like, ya know, more Smokery. o_ O**

**...**

"Why me..." My voice wasn't even a whisper as it shook with fear. A light misting rain now fell, still with the coldness, but much less harder than it was before. Clutching my pistol close to my chest I glanced around the edge of the car I was currently hidden behind.

Yep, the Tank was still slowly making its way down the highway, from the direction of the Walmart. Me, being the oh so lucky one I am, had ended up being right beside a car dealership when I spoted it. Freaking CAR dealership. I hated life...

I could hear the sounds of its fists hitting the ground as it walked but the ground wasn't shaking and as I watched it draw closer I could see its face better. It looked mildly frustrated but it was hardly in the fit of rage I usually saw them in. It was... odd seeing a Tank in such a calm state. I gulped. If it spotted me I was one car slug away from certain doom. If I could just keep hidden until it passed I should be alright. Could Tanks smell potential prey? I certainly wasn't about to go out and ask the thing.

I glanced to the side just in time to see Moses round the building of the dealship itself and out of my sight. Where as it worried me that I couldn't see him I was pretty relieved that I only had to focus on hiding myself now. Not that Moses needed to hide but I felt better if he did. Tanks were way to unpredictible to take any kind of chance. I've seen more than one attack other infected, special or not, seemingly just for the hell of it.

Movement from the corner of my eye made me whip my head up to the roof. My smoker stood at the top, watching the tank make its way closer to me.

I blinked. My smoker? I could hardly say he was "mine" ... I felt myself glare at a pebble. Well, he was mine damnit... I blinked... Didn't know I was the possive type.

Frustrated, huffing, growls brought me back to reality and my head jerked to the side in time to see the Tank nearly parallel to me. Moving with, what I liked to call "ninja-like stealth", I kept my body pressed aganist the car, moving to the back of it. Hiding behind a car might not have been the smartest thing to do but I wasn't about to try and outrun the beast. They may have been slow but they had an ungodly amount of stamina.

Eventually, it disappeared behind a hill down the highway and I felt myself relax, falling completly to my butt. I thumped the back of my head to the car and let out a quiet groan. Footsteps to my left caused me to glance to the side to see Moses making his way toward me. When he was within ear shot I closed my eyes again and said "I don't know how much more of this I can take..."

A questioning sounding wheeze had me looking at Moses again. He had his head tilted to the side. I assumed he was wondering what I meant so I continued, explaining everything I had been considering for the past 24 hours and what I was worried about. "Winter will be comming soon... I have to find somewhere to hole up and try to survive. Walmart is a possibility but if it doesn't have power or even supplies I'm screwed. And even if I somehow survive the winter what can I do from there? Travling is out of the question. All I have is a pistol..."

I huffed, putting said object back at my waist. "Don't get me wrong. You've done a great job of protecting me and all but we can only last so long on our own. And now we've got a Tank lurking about." I let out another frustrated huff that had half a laugh with it. "If that thing ends up finding me I'm probably just gonna put a bullet through my head."

Moses let out an angry gargle at that and I glanced at him. "Well, its preferable to having my bones crushed. But, don't worry," Using the car for support I shakly got to my feet. "I'm not suicidal or anything."

Glancing at where the Tank disappeared I gathered myself and continued my treck to Walmart. Shortly after I began shivering violently. It was too damn cold for me to be taking a strool right now. Stupid weather...

After about 15 minutes of me cursing the sky we made it to the large store, and lo' and behol', the doors were all securly baracaded. I considered punching one of the doors but thought better of it and just leaned aganist it, glaring at the barron parking lot with anger. I hadn't seen a single zombie since the other Smoker and that Tank. That could be either really good or really bad. And considering my current streak of luck probably really, really, bad.

From the corner of my eye I saw Moses walk around the corner of the building and out of my sight again. I sighed and looked down at my feet. We could always go back... There had to be some kind of gas station or something. Either way I have to find food soon, those pickles won't be lasting me much longer.

I nodded. Okay, so I would find some food and then decide what to do from there. Not the most solid of plans but it was the best I could do in my current grumpy state. After all, here I was in the soaking rain and-

A loud cough sounded from above me and I nearly jumped out of my skin as my head jerked up. Moses was watching me from the top of the roof. I glared and moved my hand away from my gun giving him a dirty look. "Would you quit scaring me already? If this keeps up I'll just die of a freakin' heart attack!" I threw my hands in the air to show just how flustered I was. Really, I shouldn't be yelling at him. I mean, technically, he wasn't even the one who scared me the first time...

He coughed once, I guess to show me he heard me, then moved a bit closer to the side of the roof and pointed behind him.

Great, another game of charades.

I was so not in the mood right now. I sighed loudly and put my hands on my hips. "Moses, I don't know what you want so why don't we just get back to the house? I need to find some place with food or I'm gonna have bigger problems than just the Tank."

Moses coughed a bit louder and half turned, still pointing to something on the roof.

I exhaled and looked at an overturned shopping cart for a while then looked back to him. "I'm sure whatever's up there is very nice but we should really be heading back to that McDonalds. It'll be dark in a hour or so."

He gargled at me and I rolled my eyes, letting out a huff. "Well, what do you want me to do? I can't get up there easily." I lacked the patience to deal with this right now.

In one swift motion, Moses took a step foward and jumped from the roof. On its own my body took a step foward and I felt myself tence up. A second later he landed with a dull thud. His knees bent with the impact but he was completly fine, even making his way toward me instantly.

He stood in front of me, making a similar sound to the one he did on the roof. I was in a crabby mood from him scaring me only a second ago and I had to refrain from hitting him. I exhaled in yet another angry huff. "Alright, alright. How do you suggest I get up there then?"

He turned and walked back in the direction he disappeared to the first time. Deciding I'd get this over with early I followed him. Rounding the corner I saw that he was staring at some kind of drainage pipe bolted to the side of the building. Thinking back, I did recall that some special infected would climb up these things to get on top of buildings and such... What did he expect me to do? I could hardly climb up the thing...

I looked back to him and I felt my eyes widen. Moses was on one knee with his back turned to me. He looked over his sholder at me while he held his arms a little ways from the side. The gester was reconizable as someone ready to give someone a piggy-back ride.

I took a step back and waved my hands at him. "Oh, no. I am not getting on you." I bit my lip. It was like every other thing I said to him was provacative. Oi..

He huffed at me but stayed where he was. Looked like he really wanted me to see whatever was up there. I looked up to the roof that had to be a good 2 stories up, and he expected to carry me up there? I was hardly fat but I certainly wasn't skinny. Running around like I had grown used to built up a considerable amout of mucsle.

I looked back down to him, giving him a skeptial look. "Moses, I don't think that's a good idea..."

He half turned to me, letting out a slightly frustrated cough/wheeze.

I sighed, deflaiting. Hell, what did I have to lose anyway? "Fine, but if you drop me I'm personally feeding you to the tank."

Even from the funny angle I could see him roll his eye. I clicked my tongue and bit back any kind of smart-ass remark and walked up behind him.

How were we supposed to do this anyway? He needed his arms for climbing so I would be expected to hang on, I guess to his neck? Yikes, wouldn't that choke him? Or did zombies not need to breath? I focused on his back and saw the faint rise and fall, indicating that he was, in fact, breathing. Great, now what?

Moses made an impaticent sound and I bit my lip. "Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it... So do I just... Get on?" I must have sounded as nervous as I felt cause he turned to me again, giving me a reasuring look.

I was beyond the point of being shocked by his human actions anymore so I simply took a calming breath and got directly behind him. Leaning foward I pressed my chest to his back and wrapped my arms around him, keeping my arms away from his neck.

I felt my face heat up from the contact. A moment later he rose to his full height, leaving my feet to dangle a good few inches off the ground. He reached his arms back and wrapped around my legs and, in one swift motion, bounced me up a bit, readjusting my postition. I clamped my hands on my arms and held myself in place. When he moved his arms I felt myself slip so I wrapped my legs around his waist.

Pressing my face into his back, I felt my face heat up even more and my breathing praticly stop. My heart beat picked up as well. I was sure he could feel it, seeing how I had my chest pressed up to him...

When he was sure I was ready he began his climb. To my suprise he didn't seem to have any trouble at all. It felt... interesting to say the least. I could feel all the muscles on his back work as he climbed. Rubbing aganist me...

My eyes widened. 'Oh, no..' I was "reacting" to him again. My body was anyway... I pressed my face into his back. 'No, no, no.. Not now...' I inhaled through my nose to try and calm myself.

Bleh... My eyes opened to slits. His clothes certainly needed replacing.. I felt my body relax as the smell of his clothes put me off.

It didn't take him very long to get us to the roof. When we reached the top Moses bent and I wasted no time in getting off. I still felt my face was a bit warm so I busied myself with looking out over the parking lot. "Wow, it's a cool view from up here..." Points for me, I didn't sound like a total nervous wreak.

He made a noise from behind me and I turned to face him. Almost forgot he had something he wanted to show me. He pointed to something at his feet behind him. I glanced around him and blinked a few times. There was a hole, well, not really a hole but a place where a skylight used to be. I could see them periodicly placed around the roof. All of them were baracaded, however.

I got up to the edge and peered down. "Oh, wow.." My voice was only a whisper. There was a ladder leading down to the inside of the walmart.

I laughed once and looked at Moses. He was watching me with a somewhat blank expression. I smilied. "I owe you an apology. Thank you for bringing me up here."

He smilied once and I nodded, looking back down in the hole. From what I could see we were over the clothing area. All the racks were still intact and in the darkening night I could see that there were lights on. "Lights. Awesome. That means there might be heat and power. We may just be able to stay here..." That was great news in itself but I did feel somewhat agitated. I straightened and glared at the ladder. "And I worked so hard to make that house durable..."

Then a thought occured to me. "Wait... do you think there are people down there?" I turned to Moses and saw that he was looking down into the hole as well. A short while later he shook his head no.

I felt a bit crest fallen. "But... There were people here..." He nodded. I gulped. "But, not anymore." He nodded again.

I looked at the hole again. "I wonder if the Tank had anything to do with it..." If Moses gave any kind of reply to that I didn't see it. A moment later I asked "Think there are any..." I stopped. What? Zombies? Monsters? Things like you? How could I word that without offending him?

I finished using the safest word I could come up with. "Infected?" I glanced sideways at him for a reacion.

He was still staring at the hole but with some kind of look. Hard to describe really. Like he was flustered, worried, and confused all at the same time. "Moses..?" I asked in a slightly hushed tone.

He glanced at me once but his look never left. "Is there something down there?" His nervousness was worring me.

He was still for a long time then he finally shook his head no. It wasn't very convincing, he still looked worried and the movement had been slow, like he wasn't sure himself. One way to find out I suppose.

I steeled myself and took a step foward. "Don't... Let the ladder slip." Was all I really said as I positioned myself to go down. Ladders suck. I wasn't afraid of heights or anything but any time I went down one my legs would shake. It felt like it took forever but eventually I made it to the walmart floor and looked around. To my left were the check-out counters. To my right was the clothing section as far as I could see. In front of me was what seemed to be where the veggies and fruit used to be sold at. Nothing was there now; Good thing too, anything left would be beyond rotted and stinking by now.

It was pretty shocking though, the store itself seemed to still be in great shape. Perhaps the emploees had set this up as a safe place early on... It was hard to decide if there was anyone else in with me. The lights were dim, only a few were on here an there. I could still see clearly, however.

A moment later Moses was by my side. I took one last look around and sighed. "Welp.. Lets look around, shall we?" First thing was first: Get out of the wet clothes. I found a replacement for my clothes pretty quickly, changing in a dressing room. I instantly felt better and when I stepped out I even did a little twirl for Moses. I felt a bit silly afterward but the amused look on his face made me feel a bit better.

Finding something for Moses was a bit trickier. I tried to find something that was as close to what he was wearing as possible so he'd be more comfortable. After a bit of searching around I came across a plain white wife-beater and a cowboy looking plad button up that was at least the same kind of materil he wore. Pants were a bit easier and I just decided he could keep his shoes. Anything new would just get ruined to the same state anyway.

Of course, that left me with the task of helping him dress. Which, of freaking course, had been a "fun" experience in itself. Leaving me in yet another flustered state.

Eventually, we were finally presented with the task of searching for food. This Walmart wasn't big by any standards, it didn't take very long to find the grocery isles.

I felt my soul shine and, if it were possible, an angelic choir would be singing Hallelujah. It was as if no one had touched a thing. Canned food, juck food, juice, chips, crackers, everything! I ran up to the chip isle first and my eyes instantly found that holy orange bag. I grabbed the thing and squeaked like a little girl. "Moses! Do you know what this is?" He jumped at my side. Probably wondering if I had finally lost it...

I turned to him and held the noisy bag out for him to see. "Cheetos!" I instantly opened the bag and that heavenly sent hit me, making my knees feel weak. "Oh God..." I breathed. Reaching in I grabbed a chip and poped it in my mouth.

I felt my mouth orgasim as my eyes fluttered. "Oh my God... I can't believe it.." I reached in for another chip. "Oh man... Kaiden would-" I cut off abruptly and my hand stopped midway to my mouth.

Kaiden... Aaron... I missed them. They would both love this... My arms lowered and I felt my appitite and my eariler happyness melt away. Would I ever get to see them again? Even if they found where I fell it's not like they could find me now... And the helicopter. The pilot had turned and neither of them knew how to fly the thing. Who's to say that they didn't just die in the crash? I felt my eyes prickle with the threat of tears.

Moses made a soft noise and I glance up at him. I could feel how broken my face looked and he took a step toward me, making another consirned noise.

I exhaled and closed up the bag, putting it back on the shelf. "I'll eat later..." I walked past him. "Come on. Lets find a place to sleep for the night." After a pause he began following me. He was probably worried at my sudden mood change and I hated that I was making him worry...

After a little more searching around the store I found what appeared to be where someone made a "bedroom" of sorts. A large air matress surrounded by curtains and shelves in the isle that sold bed spreads. Making quick work of it I simply tore off all the blankets that covered it and threw them to the side. Ramdomly taking a bed set I opened it and set some sheets for us to lay on over the matress. as well as some new pillows.

When it was finally ready I threw the quilt at the foot and sat at the edge of the bed and took my shoes off.

For some odd reason I looked at Moses. He was standing at the other side of the bed, watching me. I blinked once and said "Take off your shoes. You might need to take the socks off too. I'll bet they're pretty old."

He seemed suprised but he eventually sat at the edge of the bed. He stared at his shoes for a while and I got the hint. I made my way over to him and helped him remove them. Then the socks. They wern't bad but I wanted to get him new ones anyway.

Once that was done I crawled back to my side and layed down. From the corner of my eye I saw that Moses hadn't moved and was simply watching me.

I sighed. "Lay down. We're going to bed." I wasn't in the mood to sleep alone... Pathetic...

He glanced at the open space beside me then at me again. I nodded. "It's alright. You're sleeping with me tonight."

It got akwardly silent after that but as I said before, I wasn't in the mood to be silly... Eventually he stiffly layed beside me. I threw the quilt over us and turned on my side, leaving my back to him.

I was afraid I would begin thinking about Kaiden and Aaron or my mom but to my suprise the sound of Moses breathing was lulling me to sleep. Apparently, I had grown so used to the noise...

My eyelids began to feel extremely heavy and it wasn't long at all before I felt myself slip off.

...

**...**

**AN: Well alright then, people don't want me to write another story. Fine, I see how it is. v.v**

**I'm thinking about just taking this story and going all out. Come up with smart sounding technical sounding stuff and mutating the infection and all kinds of fun stuff. I may ruin it for my readers though... Ya know, like, I'll be, more or less, taking L4D storylineish thing into my own hands... Blah, I confuse myself. Dx**

**Meh, we'll just have to see I suppose.**


	11. Complications

**AN: -Glomps Akilha- Your review was so sweet I felt the need to glomp you personally. :3**

**...**

_"For the __last__ time, no, I did __not__ eat your last candy bar." I all but gowled at Kaiden. He was getting on my last nerves and going through the mosquito infested woods wasn't helping my mood. I swatted yet another that had landed on my face._

_He was apparently as cranky as I was. "Well, it didn't get up and walk away." I heard a few slaps of his own._

_I smirked evily and turned to him. "Maybe you ate it in your sleep." Speaking of which we were supposed to be resting for a few hours before continuing our treak. I was supposed to be on guard duty and he was supposed to be sleeping. So much for that plan._

_He glared at me. "Oh, what? Is that supposed to be some kind of fat joke?"_

_I glared right back. "No, it's a skinny joke." My hands clenched the uzi in my lap and I had to sifle my urge to threaten to shoot him in the face._

_I saw his finger twitch on his shotgun and I realized that we would just end up getting into another arguement if we kept at it. So being the responsible one I stood up and hastily began walking away. "I'm going to scout." I called over my sholder._

_If he gave a reply I must of tuned it out as I made my way away from our makeshift camp. Did I want to go out alone? No. But if one of us didn't leave then we'd end up being at eachothers throats for a while. Something that just wasn't an option in our current predicament._

_After a good 10 minute walk I leaned back aganist a large tree and stared out over the surrounding area. I had no idea how big this stupid forest even was. It would be great if we could find an effing gas station or something with a map but noooo. Life was never that easy._

_I kicked a twig that was beside my foot and shimmied my way down the trunk to a sitting postion, the cold uzi resting aganist my bare legs. I took the oppertunity to scratch at my calves like a madman. The shorts felt great in this weather but damnit, the bugs were apparently loving my flavor._

_I clenched my teeth together as I scratched extra hard in hopes of making the itch go away for a while. What I wouldn't give for a can of bug spray..._

_As I continued to scratch absently at the various bumps and scars on my legs I looked above me to the tree tops. The leaves swayed happily in the breeze as sunlight shown through some spots, lighting the whole forest up. My hands slowed to a stop and my eyes fell. It looked so nice, so normal... It almost seemed cruel._

_My grandparents house had a decent sizes forest out past their fields. Mom, Kaiden, and I would go four-wheeler riding out there once a month or so. Back when things were normal. Back when I had a mom._

_I dug my nails into my legs, fighting back a wave of emotion that threatened to overtake me. My eyes went to the gun resting aganist my legs. More than once, the thought of just ending my life had drifted into my mind over the past month. Death had to have been better than this Hell we now called life. But the same thing stopped me everythime. Once upon a time, I had made a promise that I would do whatever it took to survive in a zombie __apocalypse. Granted, that promise was little more than a bet between Kaiden and I but to Hell if I was going to lose this particular bet. I had a track record to keep._

_I let my eyes shut and enjoyed my moment of peace, even setting my uzi beside me to get the cold metal off my legs. It was mildly pleasent I had to admit. We hadn't met with too much zombie activity and the weather wasn't completly unbearable to walk in. _

_So I guess I should've seen it comming really. I've never had a good streak of luck stay with me for too long after all._

_The noise was so subtle at first I didn't think I heard anything. My head turned toward the sound... Well, attempted anyway. A rough hand grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the tree. From there my attacker wasted no time in getting behind me and pulling that same arm around to my back and pulling it up. The angle rendered my entire body useless even my voice. A strangled gasp was all that escaped my lips-_

_..._

My eyes blinked open. I felt them open anyway, it was too dark to see. That wasn't really my point of consern at the moment, however. I suppose I should be greatful that the dreams of my mom had stopped. I didn't appreciate these new dreams though...

I sighed and snuggled up closer to Aaron. He really was quite warm... letting my eyes drift shut again...

Woah, woah, woah. Time out!

My eyes darted open again but I didn't otherwise move. My gaze slowly drifted up the white shirt that my nose was pressed into, up the scarred and slightly discolored skin of his neck and to the face of Moses. A part of me wondered if he even really needed sleep, the other part of me was focused on not spazzing out as our eyes locked onto eachothers.

I blinked, unsure what to say or even do. My arms were pressed aganist my body, my hands just below my chin, and my entire body leaned into his, all the way to my feet. His arms were wrapped around my back, holding me even closer to him.

How excatly had I ended up in this postion anyway? Sure, I had done it once or twice when Aaron and I would end up sharing a bed but... But...

But what?

Did it really matter? Moses was a... Zombie, yes, but he hardly deserved the term...

I looked closely at his face. It was scarred and discolored despite his bath and soak in the rain. The tumors dotting the left side of his face were gross I had to admit but I grew up being told that looks didn't matter darnit. The hell if I was going to let it bother me now.

He blinked and made a soft noise. I noticed, once again, that his tongue wasn't sticking out of his mouth. Despite my internal arguement at the moment I smiled. "Morning..." I whispered. He was really warm and being pressed into him like I was felt... Nice. My smile slowly disappeared and I studdied his face once more.

Okay, so the way he looked didn't bother me. Whoop-de-freaking-do. None of that mattered. I can't be with him, we'd be like a dog and a cat. It just wouldn't work...

I closed my eyes and let out a broken sigh. Moses made another noise but I ignored it and untangled myself from him, skooting away from him. Despite my efforts my eyes couldn't help but dart to his face. He looked... Disappointed; sad really as he sat up and watched me.

I turned my back to him and busied myself with putting my socks on. I didn't make a noise, nor did I make eye contact as I stood up and left our makeshift bedroom.

Having just woke up, I was still pretty grogy as I stumbled toward the back of the store where I saw a sign stating there was a bathroom.

Pushing the door open that led me to the womens restroom, [stickler for the rules as always] I made my way to the sinks. I stared into the mirror. Was I impressed with what I saw? No. Had I ever been? Aslo, no, but it's not like it really mattered anymore.

I glared at my reflection. That was my excuse for everything anymore. It didn't matter.

I sighed loudly and dropped my view to the sink. A moment later I turned on the water flow and smiled at the sound. Power, water, and food? I could get used to this...

I frowned at the water as more memories flooded me. When Aaron, Kaiden, and I found a new place we would never stay long. 3 or 4 days at the most. It must have been a guy thing or something; I for one was was completly content in staying where it was safe until we absolutly had to leave. But, no. My opinion apparently wasn't the important one. Ugh. Men.

The edges of my eyes began to prickle with the threat of tears and I quickly cupped my hands under the water and splashed my face a few times. Once that was done I turned the water off and looked into the mirror again. Randomly, my eyes shifted to my neck.

A bandaid... I touched it with a finger gently while keeping my eyes locked on my reflection.

That's right. I fell down a tree not too long ago. I probably still had bandaids scattered around my body. I sighed and bit the inside of my lip. "I need to stop thinking about it..." Easier said than done.

I was brought back to reality as someone pushed open the door and stepped in. I glared at my own reflection. It was like everytime I wanted privacy someone would come in. Ugh... Freaking hated public restrooms... Wait..

Damnit. Honetly, I could be such a blond sometimes. How am I still even alive anyway? Oh yeah... Aaron and Kaiden. I felt like punching the mirror.

Moses came up behind me and made a coughing noise.

And now I was being protected my Moses. I looked at him through the reflection. The bandaid on his face was gone. How long had it been gone though? Had he had it during the bath? I couldn't remember... Come to think of if, I couldn't even remember if he had the wrapping on his sides during it either. Sheesh, I fail so badly... No wonder I needed to be protected...

My eyes droped with depression. Always protected huh?... Could I do anything on my own?

Deciding that I didn't feel like thinking about it anymore I pushed off the sink and walked toward the door. Walking past Moses I said in a mildly sour voice, "This is the womens restroom you dolt. You're not supposed to come in here." Pfft, cause that totally mattered anymore. What the hell was wrong with me?

His expression told me that he was a bit confused at that and despite my current train of thought I smilied.

Good thing too. The small action actually made me feel better. Riding on that high I continued walking. "Come on. Lets find something for breakfast." As I put my hand on the door I heard Moses begin walking as well.

I pushed open the door and stopped abruptly at what I saw. My first reaction was to scream and slam the door, but upon further inspection I couldn't help but stop and stare. I mean, come on, it was wearing a purple purse...

...

**14 hours before**

She stared at him blankly and he felt even more frutrated, but instead of growling he tried again.

Moses pointed to himself then waited. Ameleia blinked a few times then said. "Okay, you. I got that part." He wasted no time in half turning again and pointing at the direction they had come eariler.

The girl followed his pointing finger then bit her lip. It took a while but she eventually spoke. "Um... The tree?- No... The house? Uh..."

He deadpanned. Huffing in frustration he just gave up and walked off, leaving her in confusion.

Going over the hill, the birghtly colored building she took refuge in disappearing from his sight, his frustration vanished and was replaced with worry. He really, really, didn't want to leave her alone but he didn't have a choice right now.

He had to eat or he would end up attacking her. And that was not something he was going to let happen.

Back when fresh meals were too few and far between he had grown used to just turning on one of the commons for a quick feed. It wasn't as satisfying as a live kill but it kept him alive.

He would find one, kill it, and eat it quickly. He was very uncomfortable leaving Ameleia alone for too long. The sents of the specials in the area seemed fairly faint but that could mean anything. And since the rain began the sents went away completly. Being a Smoker his olfactory sences wern't made for tracking like a Hunters. He cursed his bad luck for that...

Moses continued looking for a common to pick off.

Not to mention that he was sure that they were being followed. He'd come across the same sent 3 different times. At this point it was no coincidence. He wasn't entirly sure but he was thinking it was a Hunter. Which was bad. Hunters were something a Smoker just wasn't quite capable of taking on...

Finally, he found a victim and wasted no time in killing the weakened infected. It's not like he savored his food when he ate but this time he praticly inhaled the torn peices of flesh, which of course, made more of a mess then usual.

When he was finished he glanced down at himself and frowned. Blood covered his arms and, he was certain, most of his face and down. The rain was probably making quick work of it but he just didn't want to chance it. He made his way to the nearest puddle and began washing himself off. Once it was done he felt rather silly. Not once in his infected life had he cared about what, or who, he was covered in.

He sighed and stared into the puddle. It mattered now. The girl meant a lot to him... This new human side of his that he had aquired ever since first laying eyes on her. Of course, his infected side that was more animal than anything played its part as well-

"Moses!"

His head snapped up and his legs instantly began running toward the voice. That was Ameleias voice and he didn't have to be human to know that she was in trouble.

He didn't even have to think. Not that any real thought was forming at the moment.

_'Kill. Kill. Kill whatever dared to touch what's mine.'_ All he could really focus on was making his legs move faster.

Luckily, he hadn't gotten to far from the building. He topped the hill and his enhanced vision saw the girl on the ground. What made his blood boil, however, was the other Smoker with his tongue wrapped around her body.

Getting closer he could see that some of the appendage was wrapped around her neck; and that she couldn't breath. The other Smoker stood over his victim. It didn't get very long to study though as Moses slammed into him.

His first thing was to kill the other Smoker but his new "voice of reason" took over and he half turned, grabbing the tongue that still held Ameleia, and ripping it apart. Once that was done he turned back to the task at hand; Killing the Smoker, slowly.

From behind him he heard her coughing, part of him wanted to go to her and make sure she was completly alright. However, he was too far gone to stop now. He continued to rip and slash at the other infected in a way that would put any Hunter to shame.

It took a little but eventually he took the others head in his hands and twisted it. The resounding snap told him his task was complete. He dropped the lifeless body and turned to the girl.

She was on her side, facing away from him, and she was still coughing. His anger drained away as he rushed toward her.

He crouched in front of her and looked her over. She watched him, an expression he couldn't name plastered on her face. Her hand was over her neck, the skin under it was beet red. Anger flared through him once more. If he had been any further away... his eyes travled down her body to the tongue still wrapped around her. Just barly containing his rage filled growls he yanked the thing away and threw it away from her.

He continued to look over the girl. Had the Smoker been able to hurt her any other way? Just thinking about it made him wish the other infected was still alive just so he could kill-

His thoughts broke off as Ameleia threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his body. The unexpectedness of the action threw him back a bit but that was hardly on his mind. She began to shake slightly and she pressed closer into him.

It was almost too good to be true... He knew that she could see the monster that he was. Yet, here she was, clinging to him.

Almost on their own, his arms reached up and wrapped around her cold, shaking form, pulling her even closer. The resounding noises and added shaking told him that she was... Crying again. But she was still pressed into him and he was disinclined to break the contact.

His eyes drifted to the side and he saw the body of the Smoker. Was that the thing that had been following them? ... No... No, the sent was off.

He felt the girl pull away and his attention shifted back to her. She was studying his face again. A moment later she smilied and said. "I..." She paused then abruptly exhaled and looked away. "Thank you... I'd be... dead if you hadn't shown up when you did..."

Like hell she would be. He wouldn't let anything happen to her so long as he could stop it. She had to know that, but how could he tell her?... After thinking on it for a while he decided to try and "tell" her.

Being as gentle as he could, he raised his hand and placed it under her chin, tipping her head back to look at him. When their eyes met he just simply watched her. Her eyes... He decided that they were his most favorite part about her. He could stare into them forever...

He felt Ameleia press into him and that now familiar fire coursed through him again. His brain, once again, started throwing those images at him. That man and that woman, their lips mashed together in such a desperate way it made his heart hurt.

Her mouth twitched slightly and he had to fight the urge to press his own aganist hers. Her voice broke him out of his odd little trance. "Moses..." Every time she called him by name it sent chills down his spine. "Do you...Care about me?"

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't begin to describe the flood of emotions that hit him at that question. The word "love" echoed a few times but he could hardly tell her. He wasn't even sure if he could really feel the emotion anymore...

He considered.. doing that thing... The image of the man and woman appeared again. Yeah, that thing, but he didn't want her to be angry with him. So he did the next best thing he could think of.

Being gentle again, he took her hand and placed it over his chest, right over where he could feel his heart beating. He couldn't explain why excatly he did it but it felt right.

She stared at him again, her eyes were so wide he got a wonderful view of them. And that was okay. Even if he couldn't do what he wanted to do, this was enough. Just getting to hold her was more than he ever thought he'd get.

Her smile sent even more chills down his spine he almost smilied in return. But then she pulled away and began to stand up. He could have cried out at the lose of contact but he saw that she was still shaking slightly and he was up in an instant. He had his arms circling the air around her, ready if she were to fall. When she was fully standing she said. "We'll we're both already soaked. We might as well get to Walmart before it gets dark. Get new clothes and the such."

With that she began walking off. He watched her for a moment then rushed to catch up and walk beside her.

**...**

**AN: -Awaits my virtual cookies- :3**


	12. Another

**AN: Another filler chapter of sorts. I know where I'm taking the story, I just have to write the events that take me there out... Oi...**

**Enjoy my crap writing.**

**...**

I blinked, then blinked again. I was almost tempted to rub my eyes just to make sure I was really seeing this. Maybe I had died in my sleep and this was Hell and I would be having fucked up hallucinations for all eterinty...

But that seemed too easy.

The thing that bugged me the most was that he wasn't moving... There, before me, was a Hunter. Just... sitting there on his haunches watching me. This particular Hunter wore a black hoodie and a pair of plain faded blue jeans with dark grey sneakers. The dirty duck tape around his limbs told me that he had once been a parkour guy as well. But...

I blinked again. Wasn't he going to attack? I was easy prey at this point-

Quick as lightning, I was pushed back as Moses stood between me and the Hunter. He half crouched as he stared down at the intruder, snarling at him.

The hunter snorted, but that was it. He still didn't move as he continued to watch Moses. A moment later he leaned to the side and peered around Moses body to look at me again. Now with the saftey of Moses between me and it I got brave enough to lean as well and stare right back.

What was with this Hunter anyway? Was I not good enough to be his prey? I glared slightly and my eyes shifted to the purse around his sholder...

It looked like it had seen better days. It was covered in dried blood, dirt, and God knows what else. The color of the thing told me that it had probably once had writing or some kind of design at some point. The fact that it was made of durble material was probably the only reason it was still in one peice.

Wonder what's in it... I looked back at the hunters shrouded face again. A moment later it rose off its butt and turned, leaving me and Moses to our confusion as he walked away from the restroom area.

In a split decision I pushed Moses arm out of my way and rushed to follow the hunter. I didn't get very far before a scarred hand closed around my arm, pulling me to a halt. I turned to see Moses eye wide in an experession of shock.

Really, I didn't blame him. I was about to go chasing after a hunter after all. But something was off, and if I was right [which I rarely am] then this could get interesting.

I yanked my arm away from him and turned to follow the hunter again. When I caught back up to him I stayed a good 5 yards behind him. Not that it would really help me if he decided to turn on me.

We walked through some random isles, him on his fours. At one point he turned an saw me following him; not that I was being quiet about it or anything. He snorted once, like he was slightly miffed that I was following him at all but just turned and continued on his course. A while later he turned a corner and once I peeked around and felt my brain go "huh?"

There lay the hunter, all curled up on a big pile of blankes and quilts and various stuffed animals. They all looked increadibly soft and comfortable and... I looked at the hunter again. He was just laying there, possibly watching me but it was really hard to tell with the hood in the way and all.

What really drew my attention was the mattress next to the hunters pile. Nothing fancy, just had a sheet to cover the matress and a large blanket and pillow on top. The hunter was laying pretty close to it but not quite touching it. The isle next to the bed was covered in... Well, human things... A hairbrush, deodrent, toothbrush and tooth paste, a few hair clips, various bottles of water; some filled others not. The section below it had a bunch of pencils, pencil shaings, erasers, and a couple sharpies. There were a few crumpled papers scattered near the head of the bed. The section at the bottom had 20 or so books, some thick, others not.

I blinked, feeling as though my mind had melted. By this time I wasn't really scared of the hunter anymore. I just needed answers.

With my arms tucked close to me I walked over the the shelf, all the while my eyes on the hunter. It was hard to tell but I bet he was watching me pretty closly. Still watching the hunter I reached over and picked up the hair brush. He stiffened but it hardly looked like he was going to pounce me from that postion. Taking a quick glance I saw that the hair in the brush was about my hair lenght and a dishwater blond.

Glancing back to the hunter I couldn't see any hair poking out from around the hood... I layed the brush back down and, watching the hunter very closly, I lowered to be able to reach the bottom shelf. I picked up a random book and looked at the cover. It was a manga... I could have laughed. I loved these books... Though I couldn't reconize the title I couldn't help myself by flipping to a random page. If I had to guess the book was something about angles. The girl on the page I was looking at had big, lovely wings. Whoever was here had good tastes in books.

I looked back up the hunter. He was sitting on his haunches again, watching me with a slight tilt to his head.

But... who was here? Surely the person and the hunter wern't... staying together... Right? I tilted my head at the hunter as well and closed the book, putting it back.

I got on my knees and looked the hunter square in the eyes, well, where I thought his eyes were anyway. His head straightened but he still didn't make a move to attack me.

That was it. He had to be... be like Moses. I glanced at the purse again. He was probably traveling with someone too. Maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought I was...

Gathering some more courage I cleared my throat lightly and said softly, "Hello."

The hunters head jerked back slightly, probably shocked that was actually talking to him and not shooting. A moment later he recovered and looked away, but before I could really do anything else, he reached a hand up with only slightly curled claws he waved in my direction.

I couldn't help the airy laugh that ecaped my lips at that. I was right! I kept going. "So are you going to eat me?"

He shook his head vigirously no.

I beamed. "So you're like Moses." I said happily. His head swivled back to me. "You're traveling with someone arn't you?"

The hunter sat silent and completly still and my smile slowly fadded away. Then the hunter turned his back to me, head lowered, then slowly shook his head no again.

It didn't take a genious to put 2 and 2 together. I stood up but didn't dare try to go and comfort him. "Did... Did something happen to them?"

He was quiet for a moment then he growled softly. From the corner of my eye I saw Moses walking up to me, his head turned toward the hunter with a not so pleased look. I looked back to the hunter, he still wasn't facing us. I decided to change the subject. "So, you're staying here arn't you?"

The hunter remained silent but then he nodded. I looked away to try and gather my thoughts when an odd growling/hissing sound came from the hunter. My head jerked back to see him still just hunched with his back to me. I glanced at Moses and saw that he was staring at the hunter with clear shock. Wasn't he going to get all territorial with me? Hadn't the hunter just growled at me? ...Hadn't he?

I looked back to the hunter and swallowed to try and calm my nerves. In a shaky voice I asked, "Uh... What was that?"

The hooded infected half turned his head to me, then his full body, then he repeated himself. "Rrreeyyyyyeessssssss..." It started as a kind of growl and a snarl, forming to a "y" sound and from there a hiss like noise.

I couldn't believe what I had heard. Yes... He had said yes. A zombie had just spoken to me. My knees felt a bit weak and my hand rested on the shelf beside be just in case. No wonder Moses was so supprised. "You..." I could barely get the words out. "You can... talk..." At that the hunter faced away. I continued to stare at him. A talking Hunter...

By this time I decided that I didn't have anything to really worry about with him. He had been with someone, that much was obvious. But who? And had this person had something to do with the fact that the hunter could talk? I glanced at the purse around his body. I was willing to bet I could find out more if I knew what was inside.

Feeling brave I took a step toward the hunter, putting me about a yard away from him. All he did was watch me with his same relaxed expression. "Could I see the purse?" I held my hand toward him, palm up.

As soon as the word "purse" left my lips the hunter reared back, lowering to a crouching postion, and snarled at me showing pink-ish stained teeth.

Instinct had me pulling my hand back in fear. A moment later, Moses was at my side with his arm in front of me as a form of protection as he snarled right back at the hunter. The hunter in turn turned his anger on him and they were locked in a growling contest.

I decided I needed to intervein or things might turn ugly. "Wait! Wait!" I pushed Moses arm away from me and I got between them, pushing Moses back. Moses took a step back at my touch but his gaze remained glued on the hunter and he continued to snarl, as did the hunter. "Moses, stop it!" I scolded. He continued to ignore me and in desperation I grabbed the sides of his face and forced him to look at me. When his single eye met my pair his snarl faded away, as did the noises from behind me, and he stared at me.

With that done I felt my cheeks flush with the look he was giving me and I pulled my hands away, turning back to the hunter in the process. He had backed away from me and now rested with his head pointed down. If he were a cat I could imagine his ears being pressed back aganist his skull. I let out a breath but smiled lightly all the same. "Pretty protective of it huh?"

After a slight pause he nodded shortly. I laughed in good humor. "Alright, I can take a hint. I won't ask again..." Honestly, I just can't help myself sometimes. "You sure I can't just look? I won't break anything, promise."

The hunter pressed himself further away from me, letting out a low whimper. At least he didn't snarl at me.. I lowered to his level and looked at him; it took a while but he eventually returned my gaze. It wasn't the best of lighting but if I looked hard enough I could just see a faint shine from under the hood. Did this hunter have eyes? I clenched my hand in a fist to stop myself from reaching up to pull the hood back. I wasn't that stupid after all...

I tried to soften my voice, as if I were trying to reason with a child. "May I ,please, see the purse? I'll be very careful with it and I'll give it right back when I'm done."

The hunter looked away again. I could just see the internal arguement it was having on his face. Then inspiration hit me. I smilied pleasently and stood back up. "How bout this: I make us some..." What time of day was it? Hell if I knew... "Food, and while you eat I can look at the purse?"

From the looks of it that was a promising offer indeed. The hunter looked away again, and with a bit more thinking he looked back up to me. He nodded then lowered his head slightly. "Kk- k- kk-" he shifted slightly and tried again. "K- k- kkhhhhaaahh"

It was long drawn out and he struggled with it obviously but he could communicate. Even at this point it shocked me to no end. If I didn't get answers soon my head might explode.

**...**

**AN: I was listening to "A Mysterious Painting" while writing most of this chapter. It's from the OST from Kiki's Delivery Service. The most beautiful song I've ever heard. I totally recomend it.**

**Anyway, sorry for being so short afte such a long time. Real life sucks right now. **


	13. The past

**AN: Dawwww. I can't believe people are still reading this after so long. I love you guys. :3**

**And hello after such a long time. I've been trying to balance work, college, a failing social life, xbox time and uploading videos to youTube with my computer time. As you can all see; I suck at it. .**

**Also watch my profile updates, I'll try to keep you guys posted on what I'm doing. And I promise I'm still working on this story I just can't ever seem to find the time to get to it anymore.**

**...**

Whoever had fortified the Walmart before me had been smart. Very smart. All the meats had been properly packaged and stored in the deep freezers in the back of the store. It had taken a little to find them but I wouldn't be running out of food for the guys for a long time, that was for sure.

After a little more thinking I decided to use the deli section grills to cook them on. I wouldn't need to make a 5 star steak but I'm sure they'd appriciate something not frozen and resembling a birck.

At first, as the grill warmed up and I unpacked the meat, both Moses and the hunter crowded around me to watch my progress. I bit the inside of my lip and turned on them in annoyance. "Hey! I'm trying to work here. Shoo, shoo." As I waved them out the hunter turned and pounced over the counter with a yip. Moses followed after, leaping the counter with a bit less height and from there they both watched me with the obsticle as protection.

I huffed air through my nose. "It'll be done in a minute so you just cool your jets." Honestly, men. I finished unwrapping the steaks and half turned to see them still watching me. At that point I felt a little nervous under their gazes. To try and cover it I turned back to my cooking and called back, "Why don't you guys go find some plates and stuff?" 'And stuff' ? Loved my descriptions...

There was a odd series of grunting from behind me then a soft thump. Curiosity had me turn to see the hunter leap over the forzen food sections to search for them. Leaving Moses to continue to watch me. The little smile I had apparently had on my face melted away and we locked gazes. Glancing at the meat I decided it would be fine to let sit and cook for a while. Wiping my hands on the apron I'd found in the back I walked to the counter and stood on the other side of Moses.

I sighed and leaned foward, resting againist it and staring at Moses. He tilted his head to the side and I, once again, noticed that his tongue wasn't there. Thinking more on it I realized he was probably sucking it in... so he would look more normal? ... For me?

I continued to stare at him. Why me; why was he staying with me? And why him? I could have pounched something. Questions like that really bothered me and I may never get the answer to this one.

He shifted from one foot to the other, looking quite uncomfortable under my gaze. I didn't blame him. I could look pretty freaky when I stared out into space.

Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned to see the hunter back with a stack of paper plates and what appered to be a box of assorted utenciles. He hopped back up the the counter and dumped his findings in front of me. I picked up the plates with a smile. "Wow, that was pretty fast. You must know where everything is in here huh?"

The hunter replied with a toothy grin that sent a shiver down my spine. I nodded nervously and returned to the steaks. A quick once over told me that they were probably still in a rare state. Perfect. If I really thought about it, giving the zombies blood covered meat wasn't the smartest thing but they were what they were. It would be like trying to feed a lion carrots. It just wouldn't do.

Flipping 5 each onto seperate plates I turned back to the boys and almot dropped the plates I was holding in my laughter. Both pairs of eyes (sorta) were trained on the meat in my hands. The expression on their faces reminded me of.. well, lions.

...

I grumbled again and the hunter who looked misrable already hunched even lower. With my hands on my hips I glared down at him looking miffed. "Don't try to pull any kind of cute act. You promised."

The hunter looked away and shuffled a bit. If I wanted to be honest he hadn't actually promised. But I wasn't about to say that out loud. I crossed my arms and looked away. The direction I happened to look was where Moses was. He was calmly leaning againist the counter watching us with what I could only describe as amusement. Made me want to throw something at him.

My eyes shifted to the purse that was still around the hunter. I was dying at his point to know what sort of secrets it held. The hunter wouldn't be that protective of it if it didn't mean a lot to him. So therefore it had to have something interesting in it.

Then again, pressing a hunter about it probably wasn't a good idea, no matter how passive I thought he was. I glanced to Moses again. Not to mention any time the little hunter even looked at me funny Moses would snarl at him.

I sighed, releasing all the tension I held and let my arms dangle at my sides. Blinking, a single thought crossed my mind: 'Just like old times...'

Looking up, I saw the hunter was not staring intently at a clothing rack. Avoiding eye contact with me. Just like Kaiden...

I looked at Moses again and saw that he was still watching us. Enjoying himself. Just like Aaron...

I wanted nothing more than to burst into tears and run from the room. Stupid emotions. Deciding that I didn't feel like making a scene I simply muttered "Whatever." And walked away from them.

Just as always I could hear Moses slightly off beat footsteps following after me. All I wanted was to be alone even if for just a little while. Thinking quick I headed for the womens restroom, remembering vaguely that it had a lock on it. Moses may not like it too much but to hell if I needed an excuse to want to be alone in the bathroom, damnit.

When I did get to the restroom Moses was already directly behind me. I plastered a smile on my face then turned to him. "I'll be out in a bit." With that I pushed the door open and quickly shut it behind me, locking it instantly. Then I turned and let my back hit the door and let my body slide to the ground.

I waited for a moment, listening to the weezing breathing of Moses. Then without warning he turned and left the bathroom area. Just like that. I sighed, however much I didn't want to I needed to sort things out. Maybe if I just went through things start to finish I could get over it. Like a theropy session.

But where excatly to start? Thinking back I realized that Kaiden and I would never have found the helicopter if we hadn't met Aaron... That seemed a good as place to start as any...

...

_The noise was so subtle at first I hadn't thought I'd heard anything. My head turned toward the sound... Well, attempted anyway. A rough hand grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the tree. From there my attacker wasted no time in getting behind me and pulling that same arm around to my back and pulling it up. The angle rendered my entire body useless, even my voice. A strangled gasp was all that escaped my lips as my attacker stood behind me._

_"Say something!" A male voice hissed in my ear. What? Zombies couldn't talk... Despite my confusion I did try to speak. Nothing came out though, just a few startled gasps._

_"Damnit, say something!" He repeated. I was confused beyond belief. This guy was a quack and I was at his mercy. I could see his shadow in front of me from the sun streaking through the tree tops. He had something big and pointy looking in his hand that seemed to be poised above my head._

_Shit. If I didn't do something he'd probably end up killing me. Forcing my eyes shut I focused on my voice. "..Aarrrm.." I managed to choke out._

_The hand holding me loosened slightly and I saw his shadow lax. "What?" He even sounded confused. Like he hadn't expected me to actually talk._

_I tried again, my eyes still clenched shut. "My... Arm..." I moaned out._

_The hand holding me instantly let go and my arm dangled uselessly infront of me, a burning numbness throbbing in my sholder. I reached a hand up and rubbed gently at the bone, completly aware that the man was probably watching me._

_Footsteps came up behind me and I froze up. The steps stopped and I heard him take a shaky breath. "Sorry! I'm.. I uh..." He sounded terrofied to be completly honest. It was then that I took the chance to turn and look at him._

_And abruptly, my pluse quickened. In a word, he was handsome. No.. That didn't do him justice. Something corny, like, scuptled by the Gods worked better._

_His hair was longer than mine, about sholder lenght, blond going black at the roots. Dimpled chin and prominate adams apple leading down to what could only be tight muscles hidden under a form fitted shirt. Simple blue jean pants, cowboy cut and slightly skin tight. Cowboy boots covered his feet. I blinked and my eyes travled back up to his face. _

_He was looking off to his right with what looked like regret. The only thing I could really think was how he needed a cowboy hat..._

_I then wanted to promptly slap myself for oggeling him like some kind of love struck 12 year old. _

_An embarrased blush creeped up to my cheeks and I hastly got to my feet. His eyes shifted back to me and I plastered a blank look on my face._

_He bit his lip and looked away, drawing his eyebrows together. "You don't need to glare... I didn't mean to hurt you..." His voice trailed off._

_I blinked again. I was glaring? Oops... Okay, new approach-_

_"I didn't did I?" He looked back to me with worry and our eyes locked... I had to swallow back my nervousness in order to make a cohearent reply. _

_"Uh... What?" My voice cracked. Smooth... Real smooth..._

_He tilted his head just slightly, still looking onserned. "I didn't hurt you right?"_

_"Oh..." I trailed off, looking to the ground. My sholder did burn a bit but nothing that wouldn't go away within the next 10 minutes. Instead of answering my eyes fell on his left hand still clasping a weapon. A machete... And from the looks of it, one he had probably been using for a long time._

_After a moment of staring he raised his arm and my eyes followed the movement. Around his torso to his left side where he slid it onto a hostler. He then raised his arms and showed me his hands. "There," His voice held a smile and my eyes darted back to his face. "I put the knife away. I'm sorry for attacking you..." He trailed off again._

_I blinked and raised an eyebrow but before I could reply he continued. "I just... Saw you sitting there with a gun next to you and thought you might've been human... But then last time I thought that it turned out I was dead wrong and almost paid for it... I'm sorry." He apologized again and looked back to me._

_Unsure of how to respond I looked off to the side and mumbled. "It's fine."_

_A moment of silence passed between us and he spoke up again. "I'm Aaron by the way."_

_I looked back up to him to see he had extened his hand toward me. I stared at it, still not completly trusting him. Last person Kaiden and I had run into hadn't excatly been sane._

_Slowly his smile slipped into a nervous one and he pulled his hand back to run it through his unkempt hair. He laughed nervously once and mumbled, "Alright then..."_

_Eventually I found my voice and asked: "What are you doing out here?"_

_His eyes found mine again as his smiled turned into a flustered look and he scratched the back of his neck. "Er... I used to live around here. My dad had a cabin in these woods so I decided to hide out in it."_

_I kept eye contact with him and he added. "This is a- ...used to be a small town.." He trailed off seeming unable to find the right words. "What I mean is that I don't reconize you." His arm dropped. "You're not form around here are you?"_

_It was hard to read him. He hardly seemed hostile but to hell if I was going to be tricked again... "No, we're not from around here..." His eyes looked slightly less nervous. "We're lost." I said bluntly. "I have someone waiting for me a little ways back."_

_"Oh." He said simply, looking at the ground. I kept my guard up, ready to make a run back to Kaiden if this man decided he needed to attack me now that he knew I wasn't alone._

_What he did do, however, suprised me. He laughed shortly looking back to me. "Yeah, it's pretty easy to get lost in these woods if you're not from around here." He took a step toward me and I felt all my muscles bunch up. "If you take me back to your friend I can lead you guys out of the woods." He offered._

_...The term "famous last words" played around in my head as I turned and said smiply, "Sure."_

_After a slight pause I heard his footsteps follow after me, though those were barely audible over my pounding heart. 'Another person! And so good looking...' Son of a Bitch! There I went again with my 12 year old crushing. This was certainly no time for thoughts like that. I guess even through an apocalypse one still has silly feelings..._

_I has apparently not gone as far as I thought because soon I saw where I left myself a slight trail to lead me back to Kaiden. When I was pretty sure I was within earshot I called out, "Kaiden. I'm back."_

_I rounded a tree and saw him still leaning aganist the tree he had been when I left him. He raised his head. "That was kinda-" His words cut off completly when his eyes found the man following me._

_He rose to his feet as I continued to walk toward him. I heard the man stop walking as Kaiden walked up to me. _

_We met half way and I turned back to Aaron. With Kaiden now at my side I felt less scared and instantly felt stupid. Kaiden was probably wondering if I had lost it, bringing back a stranger... Might as well get this over with. "Kaiden, This is... Aaron."_

_Aaron took a step toward Kaiden with an outstreached hand and a smile. "Nice to meet-" He cut off and stopped mid step as Kaidens free hand grabbed at his shotgun handle, ready to raise it in an instant._

_Aaron pulled back his hand and looked away. "Everyone's so jumpy..." He muttered._

_"You can hardly blame a person." Kaiden piped up, shotgun still ready. "This is a zombie apoalypse in case you havn't noticed."_

_Aarons eyes met back with Kaidens and a small smile spread across his face. "Yeah. This is a pretty secluded place. You're actually the first real people I've seen since this got serious."_

_His smile and light tone threw me for a loop. Kaiden was hardly being friendly and yet this man was still smiling and trying to make peace. I grabbed Kaidens arm, yanking his head to my level. I whispered in his ear. "I think we should take him with us."_

_Kaiden pulled away to glare at me. "What?" He hardly put effort forth to quiet his voice._

_I glared right back. "We have trouble with just the two of us. Think how much easier things would be if we had another person to watch our backs." _

_"Are you stupid?" Probably. "Remember the last time you thought trusting a stranger would be a good idea?"_

_I could have shot him right there if I hadn't forgotten my gun where Aaron attacked me. The memory of that insane man would haunt me for the rest of my life._

_I looked away. "This is different. He had his chance to hurt me, kill me, if he had wanted to, but he didn't. We can at least give him a chance."_

_A soft noise to my right caused both Kaiden and I to look in Aarons direction. "Er.." He started lamely, "I don't really know what I could say to really make you trust me but..." He half turned and gestered behind him. "I have a cabin about a mile that way. It'll be getting dark soon and you two are more than welcome to stay for the night." His smile returned again. "We can run by and pick up her gun," He nodded toward me. "And in the morning I'll show you two the way to town."_

_At the "pick up my gun" part Kaiden returned his glare to me. I glared in the other direction. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I forgot to grab the gun after he attacked me. Sheesh."_

_I heard Kaidens gun click and I whipped my head back to him. "He attacked you?"_

_I hit his arm and he looked back to me. "I told you already, he had his chance to do something and he didn't. I think we can trust him."_

_"Thinking is not excatly something we can afford-" He stopped when Aaron took another step toward him. The man still had that easy going smile as he looked at Kaidens gun._

_"10 guage, pump. Not bad; takes a strong frame to fire that." He looked back up to Kaiden. "How many shots you got left?"_

_Kaiden shifted his gun and tried to give off a macho vibe. "What's it to you?"_

_I had enough at that point and pushed myself in front of Kaiden, glaring at him. "Look, we don't have the opiton to not accept his help. Quit being paranoid and lets just take him up on his offer." I turned to Aaron and sighed. "Lead the way please."_

_Aaron smiled and tuned. "Lets get your gun." And walked off._

_I followed after and heard Kaiden follow after me. "Fine," He mummbled, "But one wrong move and he gets a face full of lead."_

_I rolled my eyes. "Oh, can it twit. This isn't some kind of mofia movie." Then I slowed and walked beside him and in a lowered voice I added. "But keep an eye on him.."_

_He replied in the same hushed tone. "What do you think I'm doing now?"_

_I sighed and watched Aarons back as we-_

...

A loud crashing sound from behind me had me jolting into an upright postion and looking around franticly, a light sweat dripping down my neck and face. Had I fallen alseep? I seem to be getting into a real bad habit of that...

Before I could decide another crash made me lurch to my feet and yank out my pistol. Being as silent as I could I pushed the door open just a crack and peeked out... Nothing.

Glancing around further I let myself out... Nothing in eyesight...

I walked down the isle that lead to the rest of the store, all the while keeping my breathing slow and silent. I peeked around the corner and still saw nothing. My heart was pounding at this point, if anything was near it could probably hear it.

I stepped out a little further searching all around. Without warning, the noise came again and I had to bite my tongue to stop from screaming. At least I could tell where the noise was comming from now.

Running to the dairy section I found myself thinking only one thing: Hoping that Moses was alright...

I peeked around the corner to the milk and yogurt section, and abruptly stopped. I put my gun away but kept my guard up as I stepped around the shelf to get a better view.

Moses stood a few yards in front of me, head looking up, ready to dodge again if need be. The hunter perched on top of the display for the dairy section with another yogurt carton in his hand, poised to throw it at Moses. The floor in the surrounding area was covered in milk, yogurt, and what I guessed was once cottage cheese. All of which were way, way, to past their expiration dates.

I wrinkled my nose at the rancid smell and glared at the boys. They were to busy glaring at each other to notice me. I cleared my throat loudly and both heads snapped in my direction. The hunter instantly let go of the yogurt carton and it fell to the floor. Adding its contents to the mess as well.

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, slowly shifting them between the two. Moses turned to me, showing me his front. He was covered in various rotted dariy products. Awesome... Turning to the hunter I watched him jump from his perch to the floor, only to slip on the mess and cover himself in the stuff as well.

I groaned and whined, "Seriously? What is this? What the fruitcake are you two even doing?"

The hunter screeched at me and pointed a clawed hand at Moses. Moses proceded to gargle at the hunter which brought them back to glaring at each other.

Like I was going to let that arguement start again. "Oi!" Both heads snapped to me again. "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it."

The hunter started to growl at me but a movement from Moses shut him up instantly. I goraned again and massaged my temples.

"Look, you two may not be able to smell it but all this," I gestered around and shook my head trying not to pass out from the fumes. "All this stinkes to high heaven. And so do you two."

They both blinked.

"So we're going to have to fix this." I put my hands on my hips and looked around. "I'm going to mop this up before the smell sinks into the floor.

Turning for cleaning supplies I called behind my back. "Then we're going back to that house."

Moses coughed and I fugured he wanted an explaination. At least, that's what I guessed anyway.

"I want to get the rest of my first aid stuff here and anything else I might need from there." I walked around a shelf, cutting off their line of sight of me and finished. "Oh, and you two are going to take a bath."

**...**

**AN: Lol. Oh, why do I put myself into these silly situations? Ending chapters with such abruptness... Sigh.**

**Anywho, I have an anouncment! I finally got my xbox! -spazes-**

**So if my crummy updates are even crummier you all know why. Name's "Lady Red Claw" (Everything else that I wanted was taken). Anyone wanna add me just send a message first telling me you're from here. I get a lot of random friend requests oddly. :/ **

**I have videos on YouTube. Funny L4D2 Moments if anyone's interested. Search RedSandQueen.**

**And for anyone who's wondering, yes I am going somewhere with this seemingly pointless random stuff I write. Like I said I know where I'm taking this story, I just have to get there first. -.-'**


	14. Fate would have it

**AN: Sorry for being gone for so long. My laptop had a hard drive malfunction and I lost everything. Including the program I used to write these. So all my hard work on the latest chapter was lost.**

**Not to mention I recently moved into an apartment and am trying to get settled so… yeah…**

**Oi…**

**Alas, I will suck it up and continue.**

**Latest Anonymous- I swear to god I'm going to beat you with a popsicle…**

…

"If I have to tell you one more time to leave Moses alone, I'm going to throw my shoe at you.." I whispered threateningly at the hunter.

The Hunter growled softly which caused Moses to snarl right back at him. I raised my voice. "Oh my God. Just… Stop! Honestly."

To be honest though, I should've been thankful everything was going alright… I hadn't given Moses the chance to really respond to my bath comment as I went off to search for cleaning supplies. Sure, it had taken a while to clean the mess they made and it stank like Hell, but neither of them had seemed to make much of a fuss as I packed everything we would need. Including the homemade Molotov's I had made the day before.

Although, I was certain the hunter was trying to tell me something I couldn't figure it out. And when I seemed to give up on trying to guess he started pestering Moses. First it was just little things, like just getting too close for Moses comfort, then he got a little more annoying by jumping on his head and growling at him. Moses had been keeping his temper in check pretty well through it all.

That is, until the hunter started picking at me.

Nothing bad really, he just kept poking my leg or coming up to sniff me in various places. Mostly my hair oddly enough; but of course it was way over the limit for Moses. It was all I could do to stop them from jumping on each other and tearing themselves apart.

Not to mention, we still had that Tank from earlier to worry about too. Between trying to babysit the boys and looking out for that thing, I was at my wits end. At any time one thing could go wrong an-

"REEAAAAAHHH!" The sudden screech from somewhere behind me had me jumping out of my skin and screaming bloody murder. I didn't really have time to react otherwise as a pair of familiar strong hands grabbed me and twisted me around.

I realized at once it was Moses. He was currently holding me pressed against his side, both arms around me while he openly snarled at the little hunter.

I blinked and blinked again, unsure how I wanted to react to being held like that. Part of me wanted to push away from him, but the other part of me…

I blinked, feeling most of the blood draining from my face.

The other part of me wanted to…

With an angry scowl I shoved myself away from Moses. I glared at him as he watched me with an open expression of shock. "Quit being so overprotective of me! I can handle myself!" I all but screamed at him. Then I whipped around and glared at the hunter. "And you, stop being a pest or I'll shoot you myself!" Yet again, the hunter seemed unphased by me or the way I reacted.

That didn't help my mood any. My scowl darkened and I walked right up him, looking down at his crouched position. I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from kicking him in the face.

"Listen here, you little punk…" I started dangerously. "I don't-" I cut off suddenly. The hunter also whipped his head to the right. Glancing at Moses I saw that he was also looking back toward the highway that would lead us back to the McDonalds. Both of them were staring intently.

So I had heard something… Taking a few timid steps forward I pulled my pistol out and surveyed the area. To my dismay the noise continued: Loud crashing and various sounds of things being smashed to pieces.

Moses came up beside me but I continued to look out over the few houses that lined the road. "One guess who's making those kinds of noises…" I whispered to him.

He wheezed a few times and turned to me. I gulped, unable to really hide my fear. Here I was, screaming like a banshee and that stupid Tank was somewhere close smashing things.

I took a quick breath and started walking forward. "Come on guys. Let's get out of here before he decides he wants to smash us." A moment or so later I heard the clunking steps of Moses and the soft clicking of the hunter's claws on the pavement.

We managed to get a few yards further before all the crashing noises stopped, which in turn, caused us all to stop. My blood ran cold and I felt frozen in place. If the monster ran out of things to smash already we were in trouble… I glanced over to the houses in fear. It wasn't hard to tell which house the Tank was in. There were quite a few large holes adorning the sides of the house as well as one huge hole.

Feeling like my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest I whispered to the boys, "We need to go. Now."

I should've seen it coming really. Should've known my bad luck streak was gonna go on a roll… We didn't make it five more steps before the tell-tell roar of the tank filled the air and the beast came crashing through the remnants of the house.

All three of us froze and stared at him as he stared right back at us. We were only about the highways width away from him. Just as the house collapsed behind the tank, he let out another mighty roar and smashed his hands into the concrete of the walkway, picking up a large chunk of it.

"MOVE!" I screamed and shoved Moses to the side as the tank threw the concrete at us. We scattered and I had to jump to avoid the flying sidewalk bits as it slammed into the road. I felt winded when I crashed to the ground but knew I had no time to spare. So gathering my feet under me I sprinted down the highway as I heard, as well as felt, the giant pursuing me.

I racked my brain for a plan but found I was at a loss. Aaron was the fastest; he would always be the one to distract Tanks when we ran into them. Kaiden would be in charge of lighting it up (if we had a Molotov handy), and I would snipe from a distance-

Then it hit me. My Molotov's! If I could just light this monster up I may have a chance… I tried reaching behind me to get my backpack off but the angle allowed me a glimpse of the tank behind me. He was closer than I had first thought. In my fear I simply twisted back around and tried to push my legs to go faster.

From somewhere behind me I could hear a hunter pounce and I let out a shout of terror. It was one bad thing after another… But instead of being slammed into the pavement I heard terrible screeching noises from behind me and the tank let out roars of pain and anger. A few loud crashes and immense shakes followed me but I continued to run full sprint, now fueled by insane fear.

It wasn't until I realized I couldn't feel any shaking following me before I looked behind me. The sight made my eyes widen. The hunter had pounced on the tanks shoulders and back and was attacking the beast's face with claws and teeth.

I stood there stupefied as the tank attempted to reach for the hunter with its massive hands but every time it got close to grabbing him, he'd just jump a bit to the side and continue slashing at the tanks face. The behemoth began stomping around and slamming his fists against the ground in blind rage. The roars coming from him and the screeches and tearing sounds from the hunter made my skin crawl.

From the corner of my eye I saw movement and flinched at first but realized it was just Moses running up to me. I stared at him as he got closer but didn't otherwise move. When he reached me he grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me down the highway, away from the fight. I still felt a bit in shock so as he tugged a bit harder I began following after him. However, a high-pitched screech/roar sounded from behind me and I dug my heels in and glanced back at the two fighting.

If I had to guess the tank managed to get a hit on the hunter. The little zombie hung by his claws from the tanks shoulders and his feet were scraping for purchase at the tanks lower back.

It was then that I finally snapped out of whatever I had fallen into and pulled my arm from Moses grasp. He wheezed at me and I hurriedly yanked my backpack off and ripped the zipper open. "I'm not leaving him!" I said with a bit of frustration. I pulled out a Molotov and dropped the backpack. I fumbled with the lighter for a bit before finally getting the rag tied around the neck of the bottle lit. With a huff of determination I sprinted toward the two fighting.

I had indeed lost every last bit of my common sense…

The tank and hunter were still roaring and trying to tear each other to bits. The noises were probably enough to wake the dead(excuse the pun). In their scuffle they were turning in all different ways and limbs flying about dangerously. Keeping myself a bit turned, so I could run away if I needed to, I yelled. "Ah… Hunter! Get out of the way!" What was I supposed to call him anyway? Now certainly wasn't the time to be grasping for names…

My voice didn't even rise above the noises the two were making. Blood was coloring the road beneath the tank and most of his face region was just a blur of red. I clenched the Molotov a bit tighter feeling panicked. "Move damnit!" I screamed. That time my voice did pick up over the shredding noises but they didn't seem to notice.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck. I couldn't just light the hunter on fire. Not to mention if I didn't throw the Molotov soon the rag would be burned out… Feeling frustrated beyond anything I took a deep breath and screamed with all my might. "_MOOOOOOOVVEE!_" That seemed to get their attention but didn't have the effect I wanted it to.

The hunter stopped attacking for a split second to look at me, in that second, the tank lurched to the side and managed to grab the hunter in a bone crushing grip. I swear I heard snapping sounds… But before I had to think about it the tank pulled the hunter from his shoulders and threw him into a pole that held up stoplights with bone shattering force. The little hunter smashed into the pole with a sickening crunching sound and lay still in the heap he landed in.

I stared at the unmoving mass that was the hunter for a moment before my anger took hold of me and I let out a grunt of effort and threw the Molotov at the tank. I had been aiming for his midsection but, my aim being as terrible as it was, was lucky for once. The glass exploded in the tanks face and the contents spilled over his upper half. The beast reared back and let out a bark of pain.

Then the fluids caught fire…

I shielded my eyes from the blaze and took a few steps back. The tank let out a monstrous roar of pain and flailed his limbs about in a furry. I found myself taking a few more steps back in fear. I'd never seen a tank in such a fit of rage… Not this close…

Not sure what I did, if anything, but the tank paused for a bit and slowly turned its head toward me. The blood drained from my face at the look in its eyes. Rage. Hate. Crush. Kill. The blood that soaked his upper half was beginning to boil from the fire, which, mixed with its already grotesque features, would be enough to give even the most hardened survivor nightmares…

In that moment, he turned toward me and rushed at me with speed that I didn't know it could have. I turned and began running down the highway again. It turned out that Moses was only a few yards behind me. He was staring wide eyed at me and hardly seemed to notice the monster I had right on my tail.

As I passed him I shoved him as hard as I could to the side, out to the Tank's path. Glancing behind me I saw the Tank take a swing at Moses but his fist fell short as he fell to the ground from my shove. I was also able to tell that the raging beast was catching up to me, fueled by the added anger from the fire.

I continued to run down the highway back into town well aware that I had left my backpack and all my weapons behind. All I had was the pistol and I was pretty sure that wasn't going to do anything.

Just then, a loud gun shot rang out from somewhere ahead of me. The bullet whizzed over my head and, I assumed, hit the Tank at my heels. I glanced over my shoulder again and saw that the shot had actually stumbled the beast. A few more shots were fired off into its face and finally the flaming monster fell to the ground dead.

My legs gave out and I slumped to the pavement feeling like my heart was trying to beat itself to death. At the sound of footsteps behind me I cringed. I hadn't been as alone as I thought I was…

"Ameleia..?" A mans hushed voice asked behind me.

As if my heart wasn't already strained enough its beating picked right back up. No matter how much I told my body to move it wouldn't. The voice froze me in place. Not to mention I was terrified that if I did look there would be nothing there. As if my poor over-fried brain was just imagining things to try and make me feel better.

My eyes remained glued to the road in front of me as the footsteps walked around my side to stand in front of me.

The same worn, dark brown cowboy boots that I remember…

A shaky gasp escaped my lips but I remained still as the person knelt in front of me, taking my face in their hands I was forced to look up into those murky blue eyes.

I let out a broken sob as I whispered. "Aaron…"

…

**AN: Oh, please don't hate me for leaving off there. Dx**

**And Merry (late) Christmas? :x**


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